Bureau of Investigation (BOI) Director-General Wu Ying (吳瑛) yesterday explained to judges how special agents handle tip-offs and documents they receive during testimony in the case of former bureau director-general Yeh Sheng-mao (葉盛茂), who is accused of illegally withholding documents related to the former first family’s alleged-money laundering.
The case was originally heard behind closed doors in September because documents that Yeh had allegedly leaked to former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) were marked “extremely confidential.” After two hearings, however, judges ruled that the documents should not have been classified and that special agents Chou You-yi (周有義) and Tso Chiu-chiang (鄒求強) had marked the documents incorrectly.
The judges suspect that Chou and Tso might have been trying to help Yeh, so they summoned Wu to explain the classification process yesterday morning.
“I believe that Chou and Tso could have made a mistake like this because they were not familiar with the definition and the process of handling such documents,” Wu told the judges.
Wu also told judges that he had never received nor had access to the information from the Egmont Group — an international gathering of financial intelligence units designed to tackle money laundering — concerning the alleged money laundering of the former first family when he was a deputy director-general under Yeh.
Wu said that the case had seriously damaged the bureau’s credibility.
The judges also summoned former first lady Wu Shu-jen’s (吳淑珍) brother Wu Ching-mao (吳景茂), who testified that he had allowed his sister to use bank accounts in his name without asking since 1998, “because she is part of the family.”
“She is my sister so I did not think to ask why she wanted to use my accounts,” he said.
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
A tropical disturbance off the southeastern coast of the Philippines might become the first typhoon of the western Pacific typhoon season, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The system lacks a visible center and how it would develop is only likely to become clear on Sunday or Monday, the CWA said, adding that it was not yet possible to forecast the potential typhoon's effect on Taiwan. The American Meteorological Society defines a tropical disturbance as a system made up of showers and thunderstorms that lasts for at least 24 hours and does not have closed wind circulation.
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
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