Prosecutors said yesterday they would summon former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) son Chen Chih-chung (陳致中) for questioning about his suspected role in the embezzlement and money-laundering scandal involving Chen Shui-bian.
Chen Shui-bian has said he believed prosecutors would summon Chen Chih-chung and his daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching (黃睿靚) for questioning very quickly and then apply to the Taipei District Court to detain the couple.
He said prosecutors would then attempt to detain him following the couple, adding he and his family members were facing political persecution.
Chen Yun-nan (陳雲南), spokesman for the Special Investigation Panel of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, said yesterday that he hoped the public would suspend criticism of the prosecutors before their entire case is made.
But Chen Yun-nan said that prosecutors would interview Chen Chih-chung and Huang Jui-ching soon.
After having testimonies from suspects and witnesses in the case, prosecutors were learning whether or not Chen Chih-chung and Huang Jui-ching knew the details involved in opening bank accounts overseas and joined the alleged money laundering, the spokesman said.
The Taipei District Court has detained five suspects in the case — Wu Ching-mao (吳景茂), the brother of former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), a close aide of Chen Shui-bian, Lin Teh-hsun (林德訓), who was the director of Chen’s office from 2005 to early this year, Chen Chen-hui (陳鎮慧), the former cashier of the Presidential Office under Chen Shui-bian, and Tsai Ming-che (蔡銘哲), the brother of Tsai Mei-li (蔡美利), a college classmate of Wu Shu-jen.
Chen Shui-bian, Wu Shu-jen, Chen Chih-chung and Huang Jui-ching, and Tsai Ming-chieh (蔡銘杰), another brother of Tsai Mei-li have been barred from leaving the country.
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
FATALITIES: The storm claimed at least two lives — a female passenger in a truck that was struck by a falling tree and a man who was hit by a utility pole Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris yesterday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the nation in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing winds of 184kph when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting trees, triggering floods and landslides, and knocking out power as it swept across the nation. A 56-year-old female foreign national died from her injuries after the small truck she was in was struck by a falling tree on Provincial Highway 14A early on Thursday. The second death was reported at 8pm in Taipei on Thursday after a 48-year-old man