Former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) lawyer said yesterday a Swiss bank had remitted US$1 million from the Chen family’s frozen NT$700 million (US$21 million) in Swiss bank accounts to a Taiwanese prosecutors’ account.
The move was made as part of efforts to secure Chen’s release on bail, one of Chen’s attorneys, Cheng Wen-lung (鄭文龍), said yesterday.
Cheng said he received a phone call from Chen’s son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), on Friday telling him that the Zurich-based RBS Coutts Bank had remitted US$1 million to a bank account designated by the Special Investigation Panel (SIP) of the Supreme Prosecutors Office.
Cheng said he visited the former president at the Taipei Detention Center as soon as he heard the news.
“He was pretty happy to hear about the money remittance,” Cheng said.
Chen Shui-bian was first detained at the Taipei Detention Center on Nov. 12, 2008, and released on Dec. 13, 2008, following his indictment. He was detained again on Dec. 30, 2008, after the Taipei District Court approved a request by prosecutors to take him back into custody. He has remained in detention since.
Cheng said he submitted an urgent appeal to the High Court on Friday following the visit to the former president, asking the court to rescind the ruling to keep Chen Shui-bian in custody and hoping he could be released before June 11, the day the Taiwan High Court is scheduled to deliver a ruling on Chen Shui-bian’s second trial.
The Taipei District Court sentenced Chen Shui-bian and his wife Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) to life in prison in September after handing down a guilty verdict in the first trial. In addition to the life sentences, the pair were also found guilty of embezzlement and taking bribes totaling NT$800 million.
Chen Shui-bian was fined NT$200 million and had his civil rights annulled for life for violating the Punishment of Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法) and Criminal Code (刑法).
On April 2, High Court Judge Teng Chen-chiu (鄧振球) gave an ultimatum to the former president’s relatives, saying that if the money was returned, Chen Shui-bian would have a good chance of being released on bail.
However, on April 16 Teng ruled that the former president should remain in custody for two more months until June 23, as he had not seen the money returned yet.
Cheng yesterday said that because Swiss judicial authorities were supervising the return of the money, the remittance would take some time, but he believed the remaining US$20 million would return to Taiwan.
Chen Hung-ta (陳宏達), a spokesman for the SIP, said yesterday the SIP would not comment on the remittance, adding that that it would only comment after all the money had been remitted.
READY: The CGA said it closely monitored China’s maritime exercise, deployed vessels to shadow the Chinese ships one-on-one and set up emergency response centers Chinese navy and coast guard ships have returned to China, signaling the end of a massive maritime exercise, authorities said yesterday. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) released images it said showed Chinese vessels sailing north in rough seas past Taiwan on Thursday, on their way to China. “All the Chinese coast guard went back to China yesterday, so although they have not officially made any announcement, we consider it over,” CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said. Beijing has not confirmed the drills and the Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not say whether the maneuvers had taken place when asked at a
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: As some roads would be fully or partially closed, people are advised to take the MRT, with services expanded to accommodate more riders This year’s Taipei Marathon, which has obtained its first gold label certification from World Athletics, is to be held from 5am to 1pm tomorrow and would have 28,000 participants. The race is to start from the Taipei City Plaza and would go through major roads throughout the city, with traffic control implemented from 6am to 2pm, officials said. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system and New Taipei City MRT Circle line would start operating at 5am on the day of the race, they said. The race would cover Renai Road, Xinyi Road, Hangzhou S Road, Aiguo east and west roads,
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
RSS