Prosecutors yesterday said they might start a plea negotiation with Chen Chih-chung (陳致中) and Huang Jui-ching (黃睿靚), the son and daughter-in-law of detained former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), if they see more than NT$1 billion (US$30 million) in the couple’s foreign accounts return to Taiwan.
Chen Chih-chung’s attorney, Yeh Ta-hui (葉大慧), told reporters that Chen Chih-chung last week had asked Swiss banks to wire a total of more than NT$1 billion back to a Taiwanese account assigned by prosecutors as a temporary deposit account to hold the money.
Yeh said that Chen Chih-chung and Huang have told judges and prosecutors they would like to enter plea negotiations with the prosecution and they said arranging for the money to be wired to the Taiwanese account was to show their sincerity.
Spokesman for the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office’s Special Investigation Panel, Chen Yun-nan (陳雲南), said yesterday that prosecutors might agree to a plea negotiation with the couple when they see the money recovered.
Chen Chih-chung and Huang were indicted for money laundering for allegedly moving money overseas. Prosecutors accused Chen Shui-bian and his wife Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) of siphoning off NT$104 million (US$3.1 million) from a special Presidential Office discretionary fund during Chen Shui-bian’s presidency from 2000 to last May. They are also accused of accepting bribes in connection with a land procurement deal, as well as US$2.73 million in kickbacks to help a contractor win the tender for a government construction project.
Chen Shui-bian has denied the accusations, but has admitted sending the money overseas, saying it was leftover campaign contributions.
Chen Chih-chung said previously that Wu Shu-jen would donate all the money to charity if investigations proved the money was clean.
Meanwhile, the Taipei District Court said yesterday that security and emergency arrangements were in place for Wu’s planned court hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Wu was rushed to hospital after she nearly collapsed from low blood pressure during her first hearing in a corruption trial in December 2006. After the incident, Wu missed her court hearings 17 times, citing illness.
Wu’s attorney said Wu would appear at Tuesday and Wednesday’s hearings accompanied by Chen Chih-chung.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
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