Former president Lee Teng-hui (
"Hsu disputed Lee's testimony, so the judges asked them to confront one another in court," court spokesman Huang Jiunn-ming (
Huang said the judges were looking into how much Lee was involved in the case, trying to confirm statements from witnesses and other defendants that "they were merely following the orders of `top authorities.'"
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Lee was summoned to appear by Judge Liao Wen-yu (廖紋妤) at 9:30am yesterday. However, Lee arrived at 8:50am, prompting Liao to start proceedings at 9am. The hearing was closed to the public because of concerns testimony could involve national security.
Lee left the courtroom seemingly in good spirits at 1:50pm, but did not answer reporters' questions.
When approached by reporters, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Cheng Chen-lung (程振隆) said that Lee did not tell him anything about the hearing. In the past, TSU politicians have spoken on Lee's behalf.
Huang said that Liao and her fellow judges, Huang Shao-hung (
"The [simultaneous questioning] lasted for approximately an hour," Huang Jiunn-ming said.
He said that the next hearing would be held on April 28, adding that Lee would not be required to attend court again.
The case involves the disappearance in 1994 of US$4.5 million from a secret fund of US$10.58 million meant to shore up diplomatic relations with South Africa. According to prosecutors, the NSB paid the money to South Africa on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in May, 1994.
On April 4, 1999, the MOFA returned a total of US$10.7 million, including interest, to the NSB. Hsu allegedly asked its then chief cashier, Liu Kuan-chun (
Liu is suspected of embezzling more than NT$192 million out of that figure. According to the Bureau of Investigation, Liu left Taiwan on Sept. 3, 2000, for Shanghai. He surfaced in Bangkok in January, 2002, then went on to North America. Sources say he was seen recently in Canada.
On Nov. 17 last year, the Taipei Prosecutors' Office charged Hsu and Liu with corruption and suggested a sentence of 15 years for Hsu and 12 years for Liu.
Taiwan Research Institute President Liu Tai-ying (劉泰英) had allegedly wired the money to Ruentex Corp Chairman Yin Yen-liang's (尹衍樑) bank accounts in the US and Singapore. Yin then allegedly wired the money to one of Ruentex's bank accounts in Taiwan, after which he "donated" US$3 million of the total to the institute.
According to Hsu's testimony, he had acted on orders from former NSB secretary-general Yin Tsung-wen (
Yin Tsung-wen died of adenocarcinoma, a form of lung cancer, on March 28 last year.
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