Ex-president’s house, office raided again

No prosecutors or investigators could have had solid evidence without help from the authorities of Switzerland, Singapore and the Egmont Group, an international anti-money laundering organization.

The former president was forced to admit and make a public apology on Aug. 14 that his wife had wired surplus campaign expenses from his two mayoral elections and two presidential elections between 1993 and 2004 overseas, without his knowledge, until early this year.

It turned out that former Investigation Bureau chief Yeh Sheng-mao already handed over to the former president a report by the Egmont Group in early February detailing the suspected money-laundering by Chen’s family members.

Chen took away the original copy of the documents and never gave them back to Yeh.

Yeh was indicted for withholding important information concerning possible crimes. Prosecutors have sought a jail term for more than two years.

In the latest development in the case, the former president’s cashier and accountant Chen Cheng-hui, who is not related to Chen Shui-bian, was interrogated a fourth time yesterday by prosecutors for her suspected role in helping transfer money into the overseas accounts of the former first family.

She was last questioned on Sept. 4, but this time, she was named as the sixth suspect in the case.

Prosecutors eventually won the court’s permission for her detention in the evening.

Meanwhile, the former first lady’s brother Wu Ching-mao was also questioned again by prosecutors.

Former President Chen watched investigators conduct the search at his office before heading for Taichung, central Taiwan via bullet train as scheduled.

Chen was later interviewed by a radio station in favor of Taiwan independence and had lunch with Taiwan Society Central, also a pro-independence group which has long supported him. Chen also called on Ho Chun-mu, a heavyweight of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party later in the day.

This was the fourth time the embattled former president has traveled out of Taipei to huddle with his hard-core supporters since the alleged money-laundering scandal first came to light in mid-August.

Despite the scams, the supporters still back Chen for his campaign promoting Taiwan independence.

Some lawmakers criticized Chen for an alleged attempt to turn the judicial case into a political event, including his plan to organize large-scale demonstrations in capital Taipei.

Chen told supporters that he stashed money abroad because he want to put the funds toward helping Taiwan cultivate diplomatic relations.

Prosecutors first searched Chen’s residence in the posh Hsinyi District in eastern Taipei on August 16, three days after the matter came to light.

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