Wu Shih-tsai (吳思材), a key suspect in the Papua New Guinea diplomatic fraud scandal, is being kept in custody because prosecutors fear he could attempt to escape during the ongoing investigation into the case, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday.
Wu and his partner Ching Chi-ju (金紀玖), who were commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in 2006 to help broker a deal for the establishment of diplomatic ties with Papua New Guinea, allegedly embezzled the US$29.8 million intended as aid for the Pacific country.
While Ching remains on the run, Wu, taken into custody by prosecutors in May, was indicted on Friday on charges of forgery and defamation.
“This case concerned a lot of money, which was wired to foreign bank accounts. We have not finished our investigation or determined where the money is,” Chief Prosecutor Huang Mo-hsin (黃謀信) said.
Prosecutors said they were investigating whether any government officials, including former vice premier Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) and former minister of foreign affairs James Huang (黃志芳), were involved in the case.
On May 6, Huang filed a detention request against Wu on charges of corruption, which was granted by the district court. Wu should have been released last Friday, when the detention period expired, but prosecutors requested an extension on other charges.
“The forgery, and Wu’s lying to the police, made for a solid case for us to keep him,” Huang said.
Wu at one point defended his actions to police by saying he had been threatened at gunpoint.
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials including Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) are to be summoned for questioning and then transferred to prosecutors for holding an illegal assembly in Taipei last night, the Taipei Police said today. Chu and two others hosted an illegal assembly and are to be requested to explain their actions, the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng (中正) First Precinct said, referring to a protest held after Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), KMT Taipei's chapter director, and several other KMT staffers were questioned for alleged signature forgery in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. Taipei prosecutors had filed
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday established a friendship group with their counterparts in Ukraine to promote parliamentary exchanges between the two countries. A ceremony in Taipei for the Taiwan-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Association, initiated by DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷), was attended by lawmakers and officials, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) and European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Director Lutz Gullner. The increasingly dire situation in Ukraine is a global concern, and Taiwan cannot turn its back when the latter is in need of help, as the two countries share many common values and interests,
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