Yu detained for corruption

Last month Yu, as a witness, told prosecutors during an interview that the exhibition hall was handled by the ministry's Construction and Planning Administration, and he was unaware of any corruption stemming from the project.

Prosecutors believe that Yu is suspected of illegally helping Rich Development win several government projects.

Name list

Prosecutors decided to take action after Kuo Chuan-ching, chairman of Rich Development, gave all the details concerning bribing, including whom he had bribed and where the money went.

Kuo also confessed that he had given NT$90 million to Tsai Ming-jer who transferred the money to the family of former President Chen Shui-bian, according to sources handling investigation.

Kuo was able to get the name list of a panel for evaluating and awarding the contract of the Nangang project well in advance for a competitive edge over other bidding firms.

Kuo, who had been detained since September for the probe, was set free yesterday because prosecutors decided that he had revealed all the necessary information.

Tsai is a brother of Tsai Mei-li, who has been an intimate friend of former first lady Wu Shu-chen when they studied together at university.

A separate team of prosecutors investigating the embezzlement of public funds by former President Chen's family and their money-laundering operations through other people's bank accounts abroad.

The Tsais are among those who agreed to let the former first family to use their overseas bank accounts to deposit their money.

Powerful family

Coming from a politically powerful family, Yu has long been a major pillar of the DPP in southern Taiwan.

His grandfather, mother and an uncle, plus himself, had been elected magistrate of Kaohsiung County.

Yu, aged 49, also served as legislator while his younger brother Yu Cheng-dao, a sister, and an aunt were also elected as lawmakers.

He was promoted as interior minister by Chen in 2002 and resigned two years later after Chen and then Vice President Annette Lu were both shot by mysterious gunmen at Chen's power base in southern Tainan in March 2004.

Yu was then appointed as chairman of the state-owned Taiwan Sugar Corp.

He was defeated by Kuomintang candidate Lin Yi-shih in the legislative election held in January this year when he attempted to return to the Legislative Yuan.

But his younger brother Yu Cheng-dao was still given a seat as a lawmaker-at-large representing the DPP in the parliament.



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