Former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Ma Yung-cheng (馬永成) was listed as a defendant and subsequently detained yesterday by prosecutors investigating alleged money laundering by the former first family.
This was the sixth time that prosecutors from the Special Investigation Panel (SIP) summoned Ma for questioning since the investigation was launched.
SIP spokesman Chen Yun-nan (陳雲南) said prosecutors alleged that Ma had helped former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) pocket part of his “state affairs” fund through fake receipts, allowing the former first family to wire money to foreign bank accounts.
Chen Shui-bian said on Aug. 14 that his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), had told him in January that she had wired US$21 million to foreign bank accounts without his knowledge. The money was later frozen by Swiss judicial authorities, who suspected it might have been part of a money-laundering scheme, as the funds were being transferred to Swiss bank accounts belonging to Chen’s son and daughter-in-law from Singapore to the Cayman Islands.
The former president, his wife, son, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law and several others have been named defendants in the investigation.
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Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Friday laid out the Cabinet’s updated policy agenda and recapped the government’s achievements ahead of the one-year anniversary of President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration. Cho said the government had made progress across a range of areas, including rebuilding Hualien, cracking down on fraud, improving pedestrian safety and promoting economic growth. “I hope the public will not have the impression that the Cabinet only asked the legislature to reconsider a bunch of legal amendments,” Cho said, calling the moves “necessary” to protect constitutional governance and the public’s interest. The Cabinet would work toward achieving its “1+7” plan, he said. The
Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) hosted a dinner in Taipei last night with key Taiwanese suppliers to celebrate the successful mass production of the company’s new Blackwell AI systems. Speaking to the media earlier yesterday, Huang thanked Nvidia’s Taiwanese partners for their contributions to the company’s ecosystem, while also sharing his plans to meet with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀). In response to rumors that Nvidia will launch a downgraded Hopper H20 chip for China in July, Huang dismissed the reports, saying, “That is not true.” He clarified that there
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