Ex-president Chen Shui-bian indicted for money laundering

[Fascination]

Ex-president indicted for money laundering (update)

Central News Agency
2015-01-23 04:10 PM

Taipei, Jan. 23 (CNA) Former President Chen Shui-bian was indicted on money laundering charges Friday, less than three weeks after being released on medical parole from a prison where he was already serving a lengthy sentence for corruption.

In its indictment, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office alleged that after Chen took a bribe of NT$10 million (US$319,000) from Diana Chen to help her become chairwoman of the company that runs the landmark Taipei 101 skyscraper, the president was involved in laundering the money.

Chen Shui-bian was found guilty of taking the bribe by the Supreme Court in November 2010 and was sentenced to eight years in prison. His wife, Wu Shu-chen, was also given a similar penalty for the same offense. Wu was then found guilty laundering the bribe through her brother, and was sentenced to 14 months in jail, later reduced to seven months. Because of Wu's role in laundering the money, the judge in charge of her case suspected Chen Shui-bian also was involved as Wu's accomplice, and sent the case to prosecutors for further investigation.

The Taipei District Prosecutors Office has since questioned Chen Shui-bian about the allegations and asked prosecutors in Kaohsiung to further question Wu. Prosecutors in Kaohsiung subpoenaed Wu twice, but the wheelchair-bound former first lady did not show up either time because of her poor health condition.

Taipei prosecutors said it had solid evidence proving Chen's involvement in the case, but as of Friday afternoon, they had not released the indictment or provided a summary outlining the evidence backing their case. Chen Shui-bian is also still facing legal proceedings related to a reform program to consolidate the financial sector initiated during his first term as president from 2000 to 2004.

Several bankers allegedly bribed the former first family in exchange for Chen Shui-bian's help in acquiring other banks. The former president has already been sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison and fined NT$250 million in a series of corruption cases that surfaced shortly after his second term ended in May 2008.

He began serving his sentence on Nov. 11, 2010, but he had been detained for nearly two years prior to that while prosecutors were investigating and prosecuting the cases. The former first lady was ruled physically unfit to go to jail. Chen was released from Taichung Prison on Jan. 5 on medical parole after being diagnosed as suffering from multiple ailments that doctors felt would be better treated outside of prison.

(By Tsai Pei-chi and Elizabeth Hsu)

 

[Fascination]

Chen Shui-bian's illness doesn't pardon his crimes

Editorial
2015-01-24

Chen Shui-bian waves to supporters before being released on medical parole, Jan. 5. (Photo/Fang Yang-kuan)

Since Taiwan's disgraced former president Chen Shui-bian was released from jail in early January for one month's medical parole, he has kept a low profile. Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je visited Chen on Jan. 18 as convener of the private medical team for Chen. Ko's presence attracted a large crowd eager to shake hands with the new mayor, but will Chen continue to eschew the spotlight?

Chen's medical parole could be the beginning of another political storm. Ko days ago said in a TV interview that Chen has "nuclear" potential in terms of social change, but the lack of preparation before he was granted parole could generate potential risks to Taiwan.

The One Side, One Country Alliance (OSOC) has been campaigning for Chen's verdict to be overturned in the hope that the disgraced former president can be reinstalled to power.

The organization have taken advantage of the short-term memory of the public, particularly people in the younger generation who only have a vague memory of Chen's corruption, to launch an internet-based campaign protesting his innocence.

The organization is maneuvering to posit Chen as a tragic hero, persecuted by the big bad wolf that is the judiciary. They hope in this light that Chen can be a martyr for the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), potentially allowing them to secure a victory in the 2016 presidential elections.

Although Tsai Ing-wen, as the DPP's incumbent chair, will become Taiwan's new president in the result of a DPP win, Chen's influence may surpass Tsai's in the party and the OSOC's intense hatred of China and anti-China rhetoric may limit the DPP's attempts to adapt its cross-strait policy, which could be disastrous for the party and for Taiwan.

One of the internet rumors states that the majority of allegations against Chen have been thrown out and that in regard to the only remaining charge standing, one of the central witnesses Jeffrey Koo Jr has admitted to committing perjury under pressure from prosecutors. The witness in the case referenced by the rumor is in reality Jeffrey Koo Jr's cousin Leslie Koo and has nothing to do with Jeffrey Koo Jr. Jeffrey Koo Jr committed perjury in another case, commonly referred to as the "Red Fire" Case, in which Chen was not indicted.

Even deducting sentences for all the cases related to the extended Koo family, Chen would still be left with an 18 year sentence, but Jeffrey Koo Jr's perjury was not involved in any of the cases in which Chen was found guilty. Chen is also facing additional cases that are currently being reviewed by the courts, while his properties in the US have been auctioned by the US courts and some funds confiscated.

Chen's guilt has been proven unequivocally in the courts and medical parole or illness should not fool us into lionizing him or thinking of him as a martyr.

Chen was moderate on cross-strait ties in his first term, but later became more confrontational, insisting on the idea of one country on each side of the Taiwan strait. This was disastrous for Taiwan's diplomatic relations and resulted in its exclusion from international organizations and in earning the country a reputation as a trouble maker in the US.

The protests against Chen's corrupt governance saw 200,000 people marching in the streets of Taipei and irreparably broke the Taiwanese people's trust in their national leader.

We cannot stand by and see Chen lionized as a martyr contrary to the just ruling of the courts, only to create havoc in cross-strait relations once more.