Several former top financial officials have been questioned by prosecutors as witnesses to alleged irregularities in some of the bank mergers during former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) second term, prosecutors said yesterday.
The Supreme Prosecutor’s Office’s Special Investigation Panel (SIP) said on Wednesday that former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) had given a list to prosecutors that detailed political donations totaling NT$1.21 billion (US$35 million) offered by 20 businesspeople to former president Chen.
SIP Spokesman Chen Yun-nan (陳雲南) said prosecutors suspected some of the donations from bank owners might be related to the bank mergers program, and prosecutors had interviewed former high-level financial officers to better understand the matter.
Chen Yun-nan said prosecutors questioned former Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) chairman Hu Sheng-cheng (胡勝正) and former National Security Council consultant Chen Yung-cheng (陳永誠) as witnesses yesterday, while Central Bank Governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南) asked for a postponement because he needed to go to the legislature.
Prosecutors interviewed former vice premier Wu Rong-i (吳榮義) and former minister of finance Lin Chuan (林全) as witnesses on Thursday, Chen Yun-nan said.
The five were responsible for the banking restructuring program in 2005, Chen Yun-nan said. He did not reveal the content of the interviews.
The prosecutors are still investigating allegations that the former president and his wife received bribes from several banks in exchange for favors during the former president’s second financial reform program.
The former first couple were indicted for embezzling NT$104 million from the president’s special discretionary fund during his presidency from 2000 to last year. They also are accused of taking bribes of NT$300 million in connection with a land procurement deal and another NT$90.93 million in kickbacks to help a contractor win the tender for a government construction project.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
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