Prosecutors yesterday questioned former China Development Financial Holding Corp president Angelo Koo (辜仲瑩) over allegations that he helped former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his family launder and hide money.
The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Panel (SIP) is maintaining a tight schedule for the questioning of witnesses and defendants in efforts to conclude its investigations into the Chen family. The panel yesterday questioned Koo on money transfers he allegedly helped make for members of the former first family.
Koo and China Development Financial chief financial officer Sherie Chiu (邱德馨), both of whom have been named as defendants in the money-laundering investigation, are suspected of helping former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) transfer US$600,000 and NT$34 million (US$1 million) from a Taiwanese account in the name of Wu’s elder brother Wu Ching-mao (吳景茂) to the family’s accounts in Singapore and the Netherlands between 2003 and 2005.
In 2004, Wu Shu-jen allegedly gave Koo US$1 million and asked him to transfer the money to foreign accounts in the names of Wu Ching-mao and her son, Chen Chih-chung’s (陳致中), prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said several businesspeople involved in the case might not be charged with bribery because of the difficulty of gathering evidence. However, these individuals are less likely to avoid money-laundering charges because prosecutors have amassed a wealth of evidence including bank transfer records.
Prosecutors listed other defendants who may be facing indictments soon, including Wu Shu-jen, Wu Ching-mao and his wife, Chen Chun-ying (陳俊英), former China Steel Corp chairman Lin Wen-yuan (林文淵), Yuanta Financial Holding Co president Victor Ma (馬維建), former Yuanta Securities Corp board member Tu Li-ping (杜麗萍) and chairwoman Judy Tu (杜麗莊), as well as Chen Shui-bian’s son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), and daughter-in-law, Huang Jui-ching (黃睿靚).
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
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