Taiwan has sought the help of international banks as part of its probe into an alleged money-laundering case implicating former president Chen Shui-bian and his family, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
Merrill Lynch & Co., Credit Suisse Group and ABN Amro Holding NV are among the banks that have pledged to assist the investigation, said a prosecutor who declined to be named.
"We are seeking assistance from the banks as witnesses," the prosecutor said, without elaborating.
When contacted by phone, Merrill Lynch spokeswoman Vicki Kwong said: "As in normal practice, Merrill Lynch is cooperating with authorities."
Taiwan launched a probe this month into alleged money laundering implicating the former first family, following similar moves by Swiss authorities.
Copies of Swiss documents obtained by a Taiwanese lawmaker showed Chen's son Chen Chih-chung and daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching transferred 31 million US dollars to her Swiss bank accounts in 2007.
They were also suspected of laundering money by setting up companies in the Cayman Islands.
Prosecutors have named the couple and Chen Shui-bian, his wife and brother-in-law, as defendants in the case.
The ex-president has admitted that his wife wired 20 million US dollars abroad from his past campaign funds, but said she did so without his knowledge. He has denied any illegal activity.
His son and daughter-in-law have said they merely did their mother's bidding and were unclear about "the source or the background" of any transferred funds.
Chen, who left office in May, is already being investigated for allegedly embezzling 14.8 million Taiwan dollars (480,500 US) in special expenses while president, and his wife is on trial for corruption and document forgery in the same case.
Source: AFP
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Sabtu, 26 Mei 2012
Secret documents discovered in Taiwan’s ex-president’s residence
Prosecutors discovered a dozen of classified documents during the search in former president Chen Shui-bian’s residence and office. Some of them are letters from Prosecutor Chen Juei-jen sent to various departments to request for investigation of secretive diplomacy, or documents asking judicial police to audit accounts. Apparently, Chen had known prosecutors’ actions and acquired evidence via intelligence unit.
These documents are mostly issued by corruption investigation center to Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Security Bureau, to investigate secretive diplomacy of Gong Case in the reign of former president Lee Teng-huei, including reports of Lee’s possible overseas money laundering under prosecutors’ order to the Money Laundering Prevention Center.
The then-Director of Bureau of Investigation was Yeh Sheng-mao, who was indicted by Taipei Prosecutor’s Office for revealing money laundering information and documents to Chen. Therefore, it is possible that this case was also covered up by Yeh.
by Taiwan News, Website Editorial Staff
These documents are mostly issued by corruption investigation center to Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Security Bureau, to investigate secretive diplomacy of Gong Case in the reign of former president Lee Teng-huei, including reports of Lee’s possible overseas money laundering under prosecutors’ order to the Money Laundering Prevention Center.
The then-Director of Bureau of Investigation was Yeh Sheng-mao, who was indicted by Taipei Prosecutor’s Office for revealing money laundering information and documents to Chen. Therefore, it is possible that this case was also covered up by Yeh.
by Taiwan News, Website Editorial Staff
Jumat, 25 Mei 2012
Switzerland closes money laundering probe against Bhutto
Swiss authorities on Monday closed a long-running probe into alleged money laundering against Benazir Bhutto, the former Pakistani prime minister who was assassinated in December and her husband, Swiss news agency ATS reported.
Bhutto and her husband, businessman Asif Ali Zardari, were suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to launder about 12 million dollars (8.4 million euros) in alleged bribes paid by companies seeking customs inspection contracts in Pakistan in the 1990s.
The couple were formally sentenced by decree on the charges in Geneva in 2003 after a first investigation, but the ruling was overturned on appeal.
Source: The Times of India
Bhutto and her husband, businessman Asif Ali Zardari, were suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to launder about 12 million dollars (8.4 million euros) in alleged bribes paid by companies seeking customs inspection contracts in Pakistan in the 1990s.
The couple were formally sentenced by decree on the charges in Geneva in 2003 after a first investigation, but the ruling was overturned on appeal.
Source: The Times of India
Son of Taiwan ex-leader returns to face money laundering charges
The son and daughter-in-law of Taiwan's ex-president Chen Shui-bian Monday returned to the island to face a probe into alleged money laundering implicating the former leader. The couple, listed as defendants along with the ex-leader and his wife Wu Shu-chen over their alleged roles in the scandal, insisted they knew nothing about a 20 million US dollar fund kept at their bank accounts set up by a Swiss bank in Cayman Islands.
"I have no idea about the funds because my mother has long been the one handling the family's money," said the son Chen Chih-chung at the airport.
He stressed he did not know about the source and how the fund was wired abroad.
His wife, Huang Jui-ching, also said her mother-in-law, Wu Shu-chen, asked her to sign some documents, which she did as she was told without asking why.
They insisted that their return to Taiwan is a solid proof that they want to cooperate with the judicial authorities in clearing themselves and their family. Taiwan prosecutors have issued summons for the couple, who left Taiwan on August 9, just days before the scandal came to light earlier in August.
Taiwan's prosecution authorities have listed the former president Chen and four of his family members as defendants over their alleged roles in a high-profile money laundering scandal.
The scandal came to light on August 11 after Swiss judicial authorities notified Taiwan after finding unusual fund transfers through the son and daughter-in-law accounts set up by a Swiss bank.
The Supreme Prosecutor's Office launched the probe after Chen admitted at a news conference on August 14 that his wife had remitted 20 million US dollars worth of previous campaign donations abroad without telling him. He said his wife told him this was done in preparation for their retirement after he stepped down as president in May.
On August 16, prosecutors barred the ex-leader and his wife from going abroad, after searching Chen's home and office and Wu's home earlier in the day.
Investigators claimed to have found details of four secret bank accounts opened in 2000, the year Chen won the presidential election.
Chen said the money was from campaign funds that he had failed to declare. But prosecutors are trying to determine if the couple was attempting to launder illegally-obtained money through their son and daughter-in-law as well as other relatives.
The money laundering scandal has dealt a crushing blow to Chen's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which lost its eight-year grip on power to the pro-China Kuomintang (KMT) party in the March 22 election.
Chen, who served two four-year terms as president between 2000 and 2008, resigned from the DPP on August 15 as the party was preparing to expel him.
Source: The Earth Times
"I have no idea about the funds because my mother has long been the one handling the family's money," said the son Chen Chih-chung at the airport.
He stressed he did not know about the source and how the fund was wired abroad.
His wife, Huang Jui-ching, also said her mother-in-law, Wu Shu-chen, asked her to sign some documents, which she did as she was told without asking why.
They insisted that their return to Taiwan is a solid proof that they want to cooperate with the judicial authorities in clearing themselves and their family. Taiwan prosecutors have issued summons for the couple, who left Taiwan on August 9, just days before the scandal came to light earlier in August.
Taiwan's prosecution authorities have listed the former president Chen and four of his family members as defendants over their alleged roles in a high-profile money laundering scandal.
The scandal came to light on August 11 after Swiss judicial authorities notified Taiwan after finding unusual fund transfers through the son and daughter-in-law accounts set up by a Swiss bank.
The Supreme Prosecutor's Office launched the probe after Chen admitted at a news conference on August 14 that his wife had remitted 20 million US dollars worth of previous campaign donations abroad without telling him. He said his wife told him this was done in preparation for their retirement after he stepped down as president in May.
On August 16, prosecutors barred the ex-leader and his wife from going abroad, after searching Chen's home and office and Wu's home earlier in the day.
Investigators claimed to have found details of four secret bank accounts opened in 2000, the year Chen won the presidential election.
Chen said the money was from campaign funds that he had failed to declare. But prosecutors are trying to determine if the couple was attempting to launder illegally-obtained money through their son and daughter-in-law as well as other relatives.
The money laundering scandal has dealt a crushing blow to Chen's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which lost its eight-year grip on power to the pro-China Kuomintang (KMT) party in the March 22 election.
Chen, who served two four-year terms as president between 2000 and 2008, resigned from the DPP on August 15 as the party was preparing to expel him.
Source: The Earth Times
Sabtu, 19 Mei 2012
Taiwan to criminalize unexplained wealth
The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) aims at criminalizing unexplained wealth for government officials, Vice Justice Minister Huang Shih-ming said yesterday.
The statement came less than a week after an investigation was launched into money laundering claims apparently implicating former president Chen Shui-bian and his family, following similar moves by Swiss authorities.
Speaking at a news conference, Huang drew on similar laws existing abroad to explain that Taiwan aims at better monitoring illicit flows of money and combat money laundering.
As Chen and his wife Wu Shu-jen deposited large sums of cash abroad under the names of their family members, he stressed that the MOJ will seek to broaden cross-border judicial cooperation with foreign governments in Switzerland, Singapore and the United States.
In the meantime, Huang said the MOJ offers a NT$10 million reward to anyone providing information leading to a break in the case over the latest money-laundering allegations against the former first family.
The MOJ also urges companies, organizations or individuals who were involved in the alleged money laundering operations to take a moral stance and come forward to help solve the case.
During a questioning at her residence last week, the former first lady told prosecutors that the US$21 million remitted in the family's various overseas bank accounts was "all legal income."
The hefty sum was reportedly rifled into three bank accounts: two in Switzerland held in the names of her daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching and one in Singapore under the name of her brother Wu Ching-mao.
In November 2006, Chen's wife was first charged with corruption and forgery for using receipts provided by others to claim reimbursements totaling NT$14.8 million from the president's "state affairs fund" between July 2002 and March 2006.
Chen, who was named as a co-defendant in the same case but enjoyed immunity from prosecution while he was in office, came under questioning shortly after he stepped down from the presidency May 20.
After he admitted Aug. 14 that he lied about his campaign expenses for his two mayoral elections and two presidential elections, and that his wife had transferred surplus campaign contributions to overseas bank accounts, prosecutors imposed an overseas travel ban on him.
Prosecutor Ching Chi-jen left for Switzerland Aug. 15 to review the accounts under the name of Chen's daughter-in-law at Merrill Lynch Bank after the Federal Department of Justice and Police of the Swiss Confederation requested assistance from Taiwan in a case of suspected money laundering by Chen's son and his daughter-in-law, through two Swiss bank accounts.
The prosecutors also searched Chen and Wu's home over the weekend.
Source: China Post
The statement came less than a week after an investigation was launched into money laundering claims apparently implicating former president Chen Shui-bian and his family, following similar moves by Swiss authorities.
Speaking at a news conference, Huang drew on similar laws existing abroad to explain that Taiwan aims at better monitoring illicit flows of money and combat money laundering.
As Chen and his wife Wu Shu-jen deposited large sums of cash abroad under the names of their family members, he stressed that the MOJ will seek to broaden cross-border judicial cooperation with foreign governments in Switzerland, Singapore and the United States.
In the meantime, Huang said the MOJ offers a NT$10 million reward to anyone providing information leading to a break in the case over the latest money-laundering allegations against the former first family.
The MOJ also urges companies, organizations or individuals who were involved in the alleged money laundering operations to take a moral stance and come forward to help solve the case.
During a questioning at her residence last week, the former first lady told prosecutors that the US$21 million remitted in the family's various overseas bank accounts was "all legal income."
The hefty sum was reportedly rifled into three bank accounts: two in Switzerland held in the names of her daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching and one in Singapore under the name of her brother Wu Ching-mao.
In November 2006, Chen's wife was first charged with corruption and forgery for using receipts provided by others to claim reimbursements totaling NT$14.8 million from the president's "state affairs fund" between July 2002 and March 2006.
Chen, who was named as a co-defendant in the same case but enjoyed immunity from prosecution while he was in office, came under questioning shortly after he stepped down from the presidency May 20.
After he admitted Aug. 14 that he lied about his campaign expenses for his two mayoral elections and two presidential elections, and that his wife had transferred surplus campaign contributions to overseas bank accounts, prosecutors imposed an overseas travel ban on him.
Prosecutor Ching Chi-jen left for Switzerland Aug. 15 to review the accounts under the name of Chen's daughter-in-law at Merrill Lynch Bank after the Federal Department of Justice and Police of the Swiss Confederation requested assistance from Taiwan in a case of suspected money laundering by Chen's son and his daughter-in-law, through two Swiss bank accounts.
The prosecutors also searched Chen and Wu's home over the weekend.
Source: China Post
Alleged Money Laundering of Ex-President Chen Impacts Financial Stocks
The alleged involvement of former President Chen Shui-bian in massive overseas money laundering drove down the share prices of some major financial stocks by 7%, the daily maximum limit, yesterday (Aug. 18), due to the rumor alleging that Chen received huge bribes from them during the second financial reform.
The most noticeable case is Taishin Financial Holding, whose share price closed at NT$10.05 yesterday, barely higher than the par value of NT$10, a record low, overshadowing the company`s plan to raise fresh fund via cash capital increment by issuing 450 million new shares in December.
To cope with the crisis, Taishin runs advertisements on all major local newspapers today, categorically denying involvement in any irregular activities and vowing to take legal moves against those who spread rumors against the company, so as to uphold the interests of its shareholders and its affiliate Chang Hwa Commercial Bank.
Lin Keh Hsiao, Taishin president, denied yesterday giving Chen NT$2.7 billion to facilitate the takeover of Chang Hwa Bank in 2005, in refuting the statement of Shih Min-teh, former chairman of Democratic Progress Party that "a domestic enterprise gave Chen NT$2.7 billion."
Lin noted that Taishin obtained 400 million shares of Chang Hwa in 2005 at NT$26.12 per share, totaling NT$$36.5 billion, NT$11.4 billion higher than the floor price and NT$7 billion higher than the second highest bid tendered by Taemasek of Singapore.
The participation of Taishin has helped vitalize Chang Hwa`s operation, including write-off of NT$70 billion bad debt, increase of return on equity (ROE), and increase in the latter`s share price, according to Lin.
Despite its huge spending, Taishin has yet to complete the merger with Chang Hwa, which, plus the impact of the twin-card debt storm, has driven down its share price from the level of NT$27.65 on July 22, 2005, when it won the bidding for Chang Hwa shares.
(by Philip Liu)
Source: CENS
The most noticeable case is Taishin Financial Holding, whose share price closed at NT$10.05 yesterday, barely higher than the par value of NT$10, a record low, overshadowing the company`s plan to raise fresh fund via cash capital increment by issuing 450 million new shares in December.
To cope with the crisis, Taishin runs advertisements on all major local newspapers today, categorically denying involvement in any irregular activities and vowing to take legal moves against those who spread rumors against the company, so as to uphold the interests of its shareholders and its affiliate Chang Hwa Commercial Bank.
Lin Keh Hsiao, Taishin president, denied yesterday giving Chen NT$2.7 billion to facilitate the takeover of Chang Hwa Bank in 2005, in refuting the statement of Shih Min-teh, former chairman of Democratic Progress Party that "a domestic enterprise gave Chen NT$2.7 billion."
Lin noted that Taishin obtained 400 million shares of Chang Hwa in 2005 at NT$26.12 per share, totaling NT$$36.5 billion, NT$11.4 billion higher than the floor price and NT$7 billion higher than the second highest bid tendered by Taemasek of Singapore.
The participation of Taishin has helped vitalize Chang Hwa`s operation, including write-off of NT$70 billion bad debt, increase of return on equity (ROE), and increase in the latter`s share price, according to Lin.
Despite its huge spending, Taishin has yet to complete the merger with Chang Hwa, which, plus the impact of the twin-card debt storm, has driven down its share price from the level of NT$27.65 on July 22, 2005, when it won the bidding for Chang Hwa shares.
(by Philip Liu)
Source: CENS
Jumat, 18 Mei 2012
Former first lady's brother confesses to remitting money via illegal channels
The China Post news staff
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Wu Ching-mao, the brother-in-law of ex-president Chen Shui-bian, said yesterday that he remitted mo
ney abroad via underground channels on behalf of his younger sister Wu Shu-jen, the former first lady, according to the Special Criminal Investigation Unit (SCII) of the Supreme Prosecutor Office.
Wu made the remarks when questioned by the SCII over his alleged role in the suspected money laundering involving the former first family.
Wu told prosecutors that since Chen was elected Taipei mayor in 1994, he started to use his account at a Dutch bank in Singapore to manage funds for his younger sister. Touching on credit transfer methods, Wu said he sometimes remitted money abroad via banks, and sometimes through underground channels.
Chen's brother-in-law also noted that sometimes he made remittances on his own, but sometimes asked his wife Chen Chun-ying to do the job.
Prosecutors were surprised to hear Wu's remarks concerning remittances via underground channels, and they wondered very much why Wu chose underground remittance channels.
Earlier, former first lady Wu Shu-jen told prosecutors that all the funds, around US$20 million, remitted abroad were all legally obtained. "If so, why should her elder brother use underground remittance channels, instead of legal ones?" prosecutors asked.
Prosecutors said that they would also move to question operators of the underground remittance channels on charges of violating the Banking Act by handling the remittances for Wu.
For his alleged role in the suspected money laundering scandal, Wu Ching-mao has been listed as a defendant in the case and has been banned from leaving the country.
Ex-president Chen, Wu Shu-jen and their son Chen Chih-chung, as well as daughter-in-law have all been listed as defendants in the suspected money laundering case as evidence emerged about the former president and his wife using their daughter-in-law to transfer US$20 million of funds through her two Swiss bank accounts.
The scandal came to light recently after Swiss prosecution authorities sought Taiwan's help in a probe into a possible money laundering case in Switzerland involving the ex-president's son and his daughter-in-law.
Also yesterday evening, Wu Ching-mao's wife, Chen Chun-ying, was sent to the National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) for emergency medical treatment after she fainted while being questioned by prosecutors. Wu claimed that her wife attempted to commit suicide amid heavy questioning and pressure from prosecutors by taking a certain kind of pill. Wu accused prosecutors of pressing his wife to confess to allegations beyond her knowledge, leading to her suicide attempt.
Prosecutor Chu Chao-liang, spokesman of the SCII, said that Wu told prosecutors that his wife took a kind of sedative to mitigate the interrogation pressure, during a break in the questioning session. Prosecutors allowed Wu to take his wife to receive medical treatment at the NTUH, according to Chu.
Chu continued by saying that the entire questioning process, carried out in a legal way, had been recorded and videotaped.
Meanwhile, prosecutors also questioned Lin Wen-yen, chairman of China Steel Corp., over his alleged role in managing the election campaign budgets to see if the money remitted abroad by ex-president Chen was related to the campaign budget surplus.
Lin said he was responsible for controlling the campaign budgets for Chen, adding that he knew little about Chen remitting money abroad.
Source: The China Post
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Wu Ching-mao, the brother-in-law of ex-president Chen Shui-bian, said yesterday that he remitted mo
ney abroad via underground channels on behalf of his younger sister Wu Shu-jen, the former first lady, according to the Special Criminal Investigation Unit (SCII) of the Supreme Prosecutor Office.
Wu made the remarks when questioned by the SCII over his alleged role in the suspected money laundering involving the former first family.
Wu told prosecutors that since Chen was elected Taipei mayor in 1994, he started to use his account at a Dutch bank in Singapore to manage funds for his younger sister. Touching on credit transfer methods, Wu said he sometimes remitted money abroad via banks, and sometimes through underground channels.
Chen's brother-in-law also noted that sometimes he made remittances on his own, but sometimes asked his wife Chen Chun-ying to do the job.
Prosecutors were surprised to hear Wu's remarks concerning remittances via underground channels, and they wondered very much why Wu chose underground remittance channels.
Earlier, former first lady Wu Shu-jen told prosecutors that all the funds, around US$20 million, remitted abroad were all legally obtained. "If so, why should her elder brother use underground remittance channels, instead of legal ones?" prosecutors asked.
Prosecutors said that they would also move to question operators of the underground remittance channels on charges of violating the Banking Act by handling the remittances for Wu.
For his alleged role in the suspected money laundering scandal, Wu Ching-mao has been listed as a defendant in the case and has been banned from leaving the country.
Ex-president Chen, Wu Shu-jen and their son Chen Chih-chung, as well as daughter-in-law have all been listed as defendants in the suspected money laundering case as evidence emerged about the former president and his wife using their daughter-in-law to transfer US$20 million of funds through her two Swiss bank accounts.
The scandal came to light recently after Swiss prosecution authorities sought Taiwan's help in a probe into a possible money laundering case in Switzerland involving the ex-president's son and his daughter-in-law.
Also yesterday evening, Wu Ching-mao's wife, Chen Chun-ying, was sent to the National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) for emergency medical treatment after she fainted while being questioned by prosecutors. Wu claimed that her wife attempted to commit suicide amid heavy questioning and pressure from prosecutors by taking a certain kind of pill. Wu accused prosecutors of pressing his wife to confess to allegations beyond her knowledge, leading to her suicide attempt.
Prosecutor Chu Chao-liang, spokesman of the SCII, said that Wu told prosecutors that his wife took a kind of sedative to mitigate the interrogation pressure, during a break in the questioning session. Prosecutors allowed Wu to take his wife to receive medical treatment at the NTUH, according to Chu.
Chu continued by saying that the entire questioning process, carried out in a legal way, had been recorded and videotaped.
Meanwhile, prosecutors also questioned Lin Wen-yen, chairman of China Steel Corp., over his alleged role in managing the election campaign budgets to see if the money remitted abroad by ex-president Chen was related to the campaign budget surplus.
Lin said he was responsible for controlling the campaign budgets for Chen, adding that he knew little about Chen remitting money abroad.
Source: The China Post
Singapore to help Taiwan probe ex-president's offshore accounts
Author : DPA
Taiwan on Monday thanked Singapore for offering to help Taipei probe suspected money laundering by former president Chen Shui-bian. "We are happy to see that Singapore is willing to provide legal assistance and to jointly fight cross-country crime," the Central News Agency (CNA) quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Andrew Hsia as saying.
Hsia made the remark after Singapore's trade office announced that Singapore would assist Taiwan in probing the suspected money laundering by former president Chen and his family.
Because it refuses to allow its financial system to be used for illegal activities, Singapore contacted Taiwan's Supreme Prosecutor's Office to provide the necessary assistance allowable by Singaporean law, Singapore's trade office was reported as saying.
In January 2008, Chen's wife Wu Shu-chen deposited 20 million US dollars - campaign funds from the 2000 and 2004 presidential election which Chen has not declared - into several foreign bank accounts, and eventually into a Swiss bank account.
One of the deposits was made to an account at the Standard Merchant Bank Asia in Singapore opened by Wu's elder brother Wu Ching-mao.
Taiwan has also required legal assistance from Swiss prosecutors.
Chen, former chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), served as Taiwan's president from 2000-2004 and from 2004-2008.
Corruption scandals involving Chen's family and DPP officials caused the party to lose the 2008 election to the pro-China Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Chen quit the DPP on August 15 as the party, in reaction to his money laundering allegations, was preparing to expel him.
Source: The Earth Times
Taiwan on Monday thanked Singapore for offering to help Taipei probe suspected money laundering by former president Chen Shui-bian. "We are happy to see that Singapore is willing to provide legal assistance and to jointly fight cross-country crime," the Central News Agency (CNA) quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Andrew Hsia as saying.
Hsia made the remark after Singapore's trade office announced that Singapore would assist Taiwan in probing the suspected money laundering by former president Chen and his family.
Because it refuses to allow its financial system to be used for illegal activities, Singapore contacted Taiwan's Supreme Prosecutor's Office to provide the necessary assistance allowable by Singaporean law, Singapore's trade office was reported as saying.
In January 2008, Chen's wife Wu Shu-chen deposited 20 million US dollars - campaign funds from the 2000 and 2004 presidential election which Chen has not declared - into several foreign bank accounts, and eventually into a Swiss bank account.
One of the deposits was made to an account at the Standard Merchant Bank Asia in Singapore opened by Wu's elder brother Wu Ching-mao.
Taiwan has also required legal assistance from Swiss prosecutors.
Chen, former chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), served as Taiwan's president from 2000-2004 and from 2004-2008.
Corruption scandals involving Chen's family and DPP officials caused the party to lose the 2008 election to the pro-China Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Chen quit the DPP on August 15 as the party, in reaction to his money laundering allegations, was preparing to expel him.
Source: The Earth Times
Kamis, 17 Mei 2012
Taiwan seeks Swiss help in probing ex-president's offshore accounts
Taiwan is seeking assistance from Switzerland in probing suspected money laundering by former president Chen Shui- bian, a prosecutor said on Sunday, the dpa reported.
"I have asked Swiss judicial authorities for legal assistance ... to pass on to us all the data they have on the case, and to return Chen's assets if it is proven that they were obtained illegally," Prosecutor Ching Chi-jen told reporters upon her return from Switzerland.
"Regarding our request for legal assistance, we received a positive reply," she said at Taoyuan International Airport outside Taipei.
Ching flew to Switzerland on July 12 after Swiss judicial authorities alerted the Taiwan government about suspicious transfers into a bank account opened by Chen's daughter-in-laughter Huang Jui- ching.
The bank account holds 20 million US dollars, wired in from Taiwan through several foreign banks.
After the Taiwan press reported Chen's suspected money-laundering, Chen held a news conference Thursday, admitting he failed to declare campaign funds from the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, and his wife Wu Shu-chen had remitted the funds abroad this January without telling him.
But prosecutors are trying to determine if the couple was attempting to launder illegally obtained money.
Investigators claimed to have found details of four other secret bank accounts, three opened in 2000, when Chen won the presidential election, and one opened in 2004, when he was re-elected for a second four-year term.
The four accounts hold a total of 500 million Taiwan dollars (16 million US dollars).
On Saturday, prosecutors barred Chen and his brother-in-law Wu Ching-mao from going abroad after searching Chen's home and office and Wu's home earlier in the day, the Taiwan daily China Post reported.
Wu, elder brother of Chen's wife Wu Shu-chen, allowed Wu Shu-chen to use his bank account to wire money abroad.
Chen was the former chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Corruption scandals involving Chen's family and DPP officials caused the party to lose the 2008 election to the pro-China Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Chen quit the DPP on Friday as the party was preparing to expel him.
Source: Trend News
"I have asked Swiss judicial authorities for legal assistance ... to pass on to us all the data they have on the case, and to return Chen's assets if it is proven that they were obtained illegally," Prosecutor Ching Chi-jen told reporters upon her return from Switzerland.
"Regarding our request for legal assistance, we received a positive reply," she said at Taoyuan International Airport outside Taipei.
Ching flew to Switzerland on July 12 after Swiss judicial authorities alerted the Taiwan government about suspicious transfers into a bank account opened by Chen's daughter-in-laughter Huang Jui- ching.
The bank account holds 20 million US dollars, wired in from Taiwan through several foreign banks.
After the Taiwan press reported Chen's suspected money-laundering, Chen held a news conference Thursday, admitting he failed to declare campaign funds from the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, and his wife Wu Shu-chen had remitted the funds abroad this January without telling him.
But prosecutors are trying to determine if the couple was attempting to launder illegally obtained money.
Investigators claimed to have found details of four other secret bank accounts, three opened in 2000, when Chen won the presidential election, and one opened in 2004, when he was re-elected for a second four-year term.
The four accounts hold a total of 500 million Taiwan dollars (16 million US dollars).
On Saturday, prosecutors barred Chen and his brother-in-law Wu Ching-mao from going abroad after searching Chen's home and office and Wu's home earlier in the day, the Taiwan daily China Post reported.
Wu, elder brother of Chen's wife Wu Shu-chen, allowed Wu Shu-chen to use his bank account to wire money abroad.
Chen was the former chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Corruption scandals involving Chen's family and DPP officials caused the party to lose the 2008 election to the pro-China Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Chen quit the DPP on Friday as the party was preparing to expel him.
Source: Trend News
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