The High Court yesterday acquitted former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) of charges related to his personal use of state funds following a recent change to the Accounting Act (會計法), while his wife and son were sentenced on bribery charges.
In its second retrial ruling, the High Court dismissed all charges against Chen, his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), and his close aides relating to the former president’s use of Presidential Office funds from 2000 to 2008.
The judgement was made in accordance with a contentious May amendment to Article 99-1 of the Accounting Act, which makes the personal use of such funds legal and absolves officials of liability for its improper use prior to Dec. 31, 2006, the court said.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The amendment, which was pushed through the legislature by the Democratic Progressive Party and came into effect last month, expanded the exemption of punishment for the misuse of special allowance funds to include state affairs funds available to the president.
Chen was first indicted on charges of corruption, forgery and money laundering in 2008, with prosecutors accusing the now-71-year-old of misusing a total of NT$104 million (US$3.47 million) from the state affairs fund for personal use.
Chen has maintained his innocence, saying that the fund was used to promote confidential diplomatic missions, including paying a US lobbying firm, supporting pro-Taiwan democracy parades, and sponsoring democracy advocates and groups.
The case is one of several corruption scandals that Chen became embroiled in after leaving office.
In 2010, he was sentenced to about 20 years in jail for accepting bribes in a land deal in Taoyuan and other cases.
Chen was released on conditional medical parole in 2015.
The High Court yesterday found Wu guilty of money laundering in a separate case and sentenced the 69-year-old to two years in prison.
The court said that Wu had instructed her son, Kaohsiung City Councilor Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), and daughter-in-law, Huang Jui-ching (黃睿靚), to place the money she received from bribes relating to the land deal and the construction of Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center into overseas bank accounts.
Wu, who was a legislator from 1987 to 1990, was previously sentenced to 17-and-a-half years in prison for bribery and other charges in 2010. She has yet to serve time in jail due to health issues.
Chen Chih-chung was sentenced to one year in prison yesterday and fined NT$1.5 million for his involvement in the money laundering case, while Huang was given four years’ probation and fined NT$1 million.
The sentences can be appealed.
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we