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Court orders seizure of Chen family¡¦s
properties
NEVERENDING STORY:The Taiwan High Court reversed a lower
court¡¦s rejection of a request by prosecutors to seize the properties of the
former president¡¦s family
By Rich Chang / Staff Reporter
The Taiwan High Court yesterday ordered the Taipei District Court to hold a
hearing on a request by prosecutors that property owned by the family of former
president Chen Shui-bian (³¯¤ô«ó) in the country be seized.
Taipei District Court Judge Chou Chan-chun (©P¥e¬K) on Nov. 5 acquitted Chen and
his wife, Wu Shu-jen (§d²Q¬Ã), of money laundering and bribery charges. Chen and Wu
had been accused of receiving bribes from bankers in exchange for help
facilitating bank mergers.
In the same ruling, Chou also turned down a request by prosecutors from the
Supreme Prosecutors¡¦ Office Special Investigation Panel (SIP) to seize the Chen
family¡¦s properties in Taiwan ¡X whose total value is estimated at NT$500 million
(US$16.4 million) ¡X claiming that the properties had been purchased using
illegally obtained money.
In his ruling, Chou said that as Chen and his family were not guilty, the
properties could not be considered to have been acquired with ¡§dirty money.¡¨
The SIP had requested the seizure of the Chen family¡¦s three houses in Taipei,
Wu¡¦s current residence in Kaohsiung, Chen¡¦s land in Tainan County, as well as
the bank deposits of Chen¡¦s son, Chen Chih-chung (³¯P¤¤), his daughter-in-law,
Huang Jui-ching (¶ÀºÍè°), Wu¡¦s elder brother, Wu Ching-mao (§d´ºZ), and other
properties.
The SIP subsequently appealed Chou¡¦s decision with the Taiwan High Court.
In its ruling, the Taiwan High Court said it would give the case a second
hearing and that, as it remained unclear whether the Chen family had laundered
money and received bribes, it was necessary that the property owned by the Chen
family be seized during the legal process.
The Taipei District Court said it would soon hold a hearing to decide on the
request.
The SIP last December charged the defendants, alleging that the bankers bribed
the former president into pressuring the Ministry of Finance to approve mergers
during the second phase of banking reform by Chen Shui-bian¡¦s administration
aimed at encouraging consolidation in the banking sector.
In his ruling, Chou had said that according to the Anti-Corruption Act (³g¦¾ªv¸o±ø¨Ò),
a public official violates the law by taking bribes in exchange for decisions or
policies in favor of the bribers, but according to the Constitution, the
president¡¦s duties do not include policies on bank mergers, so Chen Shui-bian
could not have received money from banks to help their merger proposals.
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