The Taiwan High Court yesterday summoned several witnesses and defendants to testify in the embezzlement case against former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). Former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) was absent from the court because of ill health.
The witnesses and defendants summoned to court yesterday included former presidential aide Liu Dao (劉導), former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Ma Yung-cheng (馬永成), the former first family’s bookkeeper Chen Chen-hui (陳鎮慧), the former president’s ex-housekeeper Lo Shih Li-yun (羅施麗雲) and others.
Lo, who worked for Chen Shui-bian and his wife for more than a decade, yesterday testified that she received extra compensation from the former first family every year between 2000 and 2008. However, she told the court she did not know whether or not the money came from the presidential “state affairs fund.”
PHOTO: CNA
On Jan. 5, Taipei District prosecutors charged Lo with lying to prosecutors about the first family’s alleged embezzlement of public funds. Prosecutors suspect Lo is trying to protect the former first family by withholding information that could incriminate her former employers.
Other witnesses also provided similar testimony, saying they received bonuses from the former president, but did not know whether the money came from the presidential fund.
The former president’s alleged embezzlement of the presidential “state affairs fund” is currently in its second round of legal proceedings at the Taiwan High Court. In the first verdict handed down by the Taipei District Court, judges found Chen and his wife guilty of embezzlement and taking bribes totaling NT$800 million (US$25 million), some of which was laundered overseas through Swiss bank accounts and paper companies.
He and other defendants have also been charged with the embezzlement of government funds through secret diplomatic projects, a case that is currently under review at the Taipei District Court.
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