The Supreme Court rejected an appeal on Thursday from the prosecutors’ office to seize more property belonging to former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his immediate family in connection with several corruption cases.
The court said that nearly all the money in Chen’s Swiss bank accounts, totaling NT$700 million (US$23.8 million), had been remitted back to Taiwan and that should be enough to cover the fines demanded by the special prosecutor.
Spokesman Chen Hung-ta (陳宏達) said the court’s decision will not affect the seizure of property in connection with the two cases in which Chen has already been found guilty — involving a land deal and money for political favors.
Photo: CNA
Chen and his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), have been sentenced to 17-and-a-half years in prison in those two cases.
The special prosecutor had requested court approval to seize NT$48 million in fixed deposits, 37 shares with unknown value, two houses and seven lots of land in Taipei worth more than NT$200 million.
However, the Supreme Court ruled that the Chens owe the state NT$470 million, not the NT$980 million claimed by the special prosecutor. Given that about NT$700 million of the family’s overseas assets had been recovered, there was no need to make further seizures, it ruled.
Chen was transferred from a detention center on Dec. 2 to Taipei Prison in Taoyuan County, where he is now serving time.
Meanwhile, Wu was taken home from a prison hospital on Feb. 18, after Taichung Prison declined to admit her, saying that the wheelchair-bound Wu was not healthy enough to serve her sentence.
Kaohsiung Prosecutors’ Office has said in a statement that it will regularly send staff to Wu’s residence to determine whether her health has improved enough to enable her to begin serving her time behind bars.
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
The New Taipei City Art Museum this weekend plans to celebrate its first anniversary with a two-day extravaganza featuring live concerts and a large-scale synchronized fireworks and drone display, the New Taipei City Cultural Affairs Department said. The two-day celebrations are to take place in the museum’s outdoor park, with markets and live performances by singers including Ann Bai (白安), Bii (畢書盡) and the Cosmos People (宇宙人), the department said. The highlight on both evenings would be the "Echoes of Light" show, an aerial spectacle combining fireworks and drone performances designed around the concept of "dual stages in the sky," it
RSS