Former president denies allegations

In a press statement, Chen said the financial reforms during his eight-year presidency “did not completely succeed,” but he was “absolutely clean.”

It is the first time that Chen has publicly addressed allegations over the financial reforms since the money laundering scandal erupted earlier this month.

“Money is dry, and cannot be laundered. The money is clean, it is not dirty, and does not need laundering,” Chen said in the statement in reference to the US$21 million his family has remitted out of Taiwan.

“Please believe me. I will not evade what I must face, but it is nothing of the sort as alleged in the media.”

He also recounted the many corruption and vote-rigging allegations that had been made against him during his stint as president, which he said had all been proven to be false.

He claimed that his opponents had persistently attempted to oust him, and that all the allegations were of a “political nature.” He said he has never pocketed a single dime, saying he has contributed large sums of money to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and its election candidates.

As president, he had to meet an annual quota of NT$10 million to NT$15 million in contributions to the party, plus a lot more extra sums, he said. Between 2001 and 2008, he had been asked to give money during each election.

“But who could I turn to for money?” he asked in the press statement, as the DPP did not run any for-profit businesses. Therefore, he said, he had to keep all of the unused portions of his own campaign funds in order to fund DPP candidates’ elections.

While Chen has claimed that the money came from his unused campaign funds, prosecutors reportedly are trying to determine whether it was connected to corruption arising from the financial reforms.

Prosecutors questioned Chen’s wife Wu Shu-chen yesterday for a second time at their residence over the scandal. Special Investigations Unit (SIU) spokesman Chu Chao-liang revealed that Wu’s attorney and nurse were present during the questioning, which ended at 4:30 p.m.

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