Former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) son and daughter-in-law returned from the US yesterday morning for questioning by prosecutors investigating the alleged money laundering by the former president and his wife.
Both have been named defendants in the investigation.
Chen Chih-chung (陳致中) and his wife, Huang Jui-ching (黃睿靚), who arrived in Taiwan at about 5:30am, told reporters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport their role in the case was clear.
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
“We are merely figureheads,” Huang told reporters. “I signed the papers, but I had no idea what they were. I did not ask my mother-in-law. I just did what she told me.”
Huang said she did not know there was so much money in her overseas account until she read the newspapers.
The couple complained that prosecutors had named them defendants before they could talk to them.
Chen Chih-chung and Huang reported to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office’s Special Investigation Panel office at 4pm for questioning after prosecutors, possibly in response to pressure from a number of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators, brought forward their questioning, which had been scheduled for Friday.
The couple left the prosecutors’ office at about 6:30pm, but declined to make any comment to reporters who had gathered outside.
Prosecutor Chu Chao-liang (朱朝亮) held a brief press conference later, saying the summons had been made yesterday morning and was delivered at noon. The couple reported to the office on time. He said prosecutors had barred the couple from leaving the country should they be needed for further questioning.
Lin Che-hui, a prosecutor, said that Chen Chih-chung and Huang Jui-ching refused to sign an authorization allowing prosecutors to look into Huang’s back accounts in Switzerland.
According to Lin, Chen Chih-chung said he “had difficulty” in signing the authorization letter.
KMT legislators Chiu Yi (邱毅) and Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) had earlier expressed dissatisfaction at the Special Investigation Panel’s decision not to take the couple for questioning directly from the airport.
Lu, a member of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee, said Chen Chih-chung and his wife should be considered “culprits” in Chen Shui-bian’s alleged money-laundering activities, regardless of how much distance they tried to create between themselves and the former president.
Chiu, meanwhile, requested that the Control Yuan launch an investigation into the Special Investigation Unit’s decision not to question the couple immediately upon their arrival.
Chiu sent a letter of complaint to the Control Yuan, in which the Special Investigation Unit was accused of dereliction of duty and lack of professionalism.
Chiu said that as a result of the delay, the couple had had enough time to communicate with their family members and ensure that their versions of the story coincided.
“They were both listed as defendants and the case has drawn a lot of attention both domestically and overseas. Prosecutors should work against the clock,” Chiu said.
Chiu said prosecutors had acted unfairly by questioning Taitung County Commissioner Kuang Li-chen (鄺麗貞) over her alleged abuse of public funds for overseas trips immediately after her arrival in the country while failing to do so in Chen Chih-chung’s case.
Asked for comment, KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) said Chen Chih-chung and Huang had failed to account for the origin of the money wired by the Chen family abroad.
Chang urged the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau to intervene in the investigation.
In response to Chiu’s complaint that prosecutors did not meet the couple at the airport, Chu said doing so was unnecessary.
“If they had wanted to exchange information with other defendants about the case, they could have done so already,” Chu said.
Chu said the couple had failed to provide clear explanations as to why they possessed so much money in their accounts and admitted that they had opened accounts for former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍).
Offering “dummy” accounts to a third party, Chu said, is illegal.
Chen Shui-bian apologized on Aug. 14 for failing to fully declare his campaign funds and for wiring a large sum overseas, while denying he had embezzled money from the government or had been involved in money laundering.
He said his wife had been in charge of the couple’s finances and that he knew nothing about the transfers. Chen’s office later said that more than US$20 million had been sent abroad.
Prosecutors have said they believe Wu used figureheads, including her husband, brother, son, daughter-in-law, daughter and son-in-law, to wire money overseas.
Soon after being named defendants in the case, Chen Chih-chung and Huang’s whereabouts became unknown.
Huang sent her mother and baby girl back to Taiwan on Aug. 17, saying this had been meant to “send a message” to Taiwanese that they would return and that it would be “strange” if they did not come home, as they were wanted by police.
Saying he would fully cooperate with the authorities, Chen Chih-chung said he and his father had little say in family finances and that he and his wife had simply done what his mother asked them. He said he and his wife knew nothing about the source of the money and maintained that his parents were innocent.
He dismissed speculation that he and his wife had applied for US green cards and that he went abroad 25 times over the past six years to take care of business, including school applications, interviews, car rental and apartment rental.
“There is no travel ban imposed on me, so why can I not travel abroad?” he asked.
Chen Chih-chung had planned to pursue a doctorate in law at the University of Virginia this fall. However, the university said that as he failed to show up for orientation, he had forfeited his place in the program.
The school said that although Chen Chih-chung had paid his tuition, he did not complete the enrollment process and as a result was not issued a student ID card.
Chen Chih-chung, however, showed his student ID to the media yesterday and expressed regret over the school’s rejection of his request to keep his application active.
While he respected the school’s decision, he said he was “shocked” and “sorry” to see the school’s change of attitude. He declined to comment on whether this may have been the result of politics, saying that it was beyond his power to speculate.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang and Shih Hsiu-chuan
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