The Ministry of Justice yesterday said it would begin an investigation into allegations that a top prosecutor illegally benefited from purchasing real estate at a discount price.
Local media reports yesterday alleged that Department of Prosecution Director Chen Wen-chi (陳文琪) and her husband purchased a Yuanta Construction Development (元大建設) apartment in Xinyi District at a 40 percent discount.
The reports said that when Supreme Prosecutor’s Office Special Investigation Panel prosecutors raided the property in connection with a structured notes scandal last year, prosecutors noted that Chen’s husband was a corporate lawyer at the company and decided not to search the premises.
The purchase of the flat, which has an estimated value of NT$100 million (US$3 million), has caused suspicion and it is alleged that the couple made under-the-table dealings to save more than NT$30 million on the deal.
In response, Deputy Minister of Justice Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) said yesterday that the ministry had put together a task force to probe the matter and had already asked the couple to provide asset declarations to assist the task force in its investigations.
Huang said that after reviewing the couple’s asset declarations he believed the couple had enough financial backing to purchase such a property.
He declined to reveal how much the couple paid for the property, saying he was protecting the couple’s privacy.
The task force has yet to determine whether the couple received discounts because of a special employee discount offer, he said.
“To conduct a fair investigation, the ministry has given Chen some time off,” he said.
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