The son of imprisoned former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday vowed to appeal a Taiwan High Court ruling on Thursday that found him guilty of helping his parents launder money they received as bribes for arranging bank mergers.
Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), who is presently doing community service in Greater Kaohsiung in lieu of a three-month prison sentence for perjury in a corruption charge that also involved his parents, said the High Court’s rulings were “absolutely unacceptable” to him and his family.
He said the funds channeled to his family during his father’s tenure were “political donations” and described the court’s sentences as politically motivated.
The High Court reversed a ruling by the Taipei District Court last year that acquitted Chen, his wife Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), Chen Chih-chung and his wife, Huang Jui--ching (黃睿靚), of bribery and money laundering charges related to bank mergers that were part of a “second financial reform” initiative.
It sentenced the former president to 18 years and Wu to 11 years in prison and fined them NT$180 million (US$5.95 million) and NT$102 million respectively for taking bribes from financial conglomerates to help arrange favorable mergers during Chen’s tenure as president between 2000 and 2008.
They were also ordered to return the NT$500 million they allegedly received in bribes to the national coffers. In the same ruling, the court sentenced Chen Chih-chung to one year in jail and fined him NT$4 million and gave Huang a six-month sentence and a NT$2 million fine for their parts in helping hide and move the money.
The former president’s son, who announced his intention to run for a seat in the legislature on Sept. 1, two weeks after he was stripped of his post on Greater Kaohsiung Council because of his perjury conviction, called for voters to make the right choice when voting for a new president on Jan. 14.
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
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