[April 09, 2006]

Scam allegation, suit threats escalate

(China Post Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)The Presidential Office yesterday made new threats to sue a Kuomintang (KMT) legislator after the lawmaker made new allegations that the family of President Chen Shui-bian took gift coupons from a major department store in Taipei.

Senior aides to President Chen on Saturday gave Legislator Lee Chuan-chiao of the opposition Kuomintang three days to make an apology for his allegations that the president and his family had taken gifts and bribes, including those from businessman Liang Po-hsun.

Liang has successfully prompted prosecutors to take a hard look at the scams committed by Chen Che-nan, the former deputy presidential secretary-general to President Chen.

Instead of letting Chen Che-nan off the hook as in the past, the court granted prosecutors' request for his continuous detention. Lawmaker Lee said that Liang also gave money to the president and his family through the arrangement of Chen.

Lee said that Wu Shu-chen, President Chen's wife, had used the gift certificates given by Liang for a shopping spree at the Pacific Sogo Department Store in Taipei.

The statement of Lee prompted officials of the Presidential Office to make new statement yesterday to deny Lee's allegations.

They said Lee's statements were all groundless, adding the first lady never made any large-scale purchases at the department store pinpointed by the lawmaker.

The truth can easily come out by simply checking and comparing the transaction records because all gift coupons bear serial numbers.

Lee then held another press conference in the afternoon to reveal that the gift coupons given to the First Family belong to a special batch that is different from the gift certificates used by the ordinary people.

He challenged the Presidential Office by urging it to reveal the gift coupon numbers for comparison with the data in his hand.

The lawmaker, who was elected from Tainan County, President Chen's home county, said the president condoned his senior aides for making manipulative investments in the stock market and turning the high office into a "criminal money trading center."

He questioned whether the president should be held accountable for accepting more than NT$1 million in cash and department store gift coupons from Liang, plus other large-scale scams, including the case involving the Kaohsiung mass rapid transit system.

The lawmaker said he stood by his statement that he had reasonable doubt that the complimentary coupons worth NT$8.8 million had been passed over to the first family. Lee called on the first lady to take initiative to clear her name by making public the serial numbers of the coupons, claiming that he has "data on hand" that match the serial numbers of the coupons used by the first family.

He challenged the Presidential Office to sue him as soon as possible so he will have a chance to prove everything in court. Lee said he has all the hard evidence on hand and is ready to confront the Presidential Office,

Lee also urged top executives of Pacific Sogo, including chairwoman Chong Chin, not to destroy any evidence.

He said it would be interesting to know how Chong was selected to head the large department store chain in Taiwan and who had played a role in her appointment.

The legislative caucus of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said that should not use his immunity privilege as a lawmaker to make all kinds of allegations.

But some other DPP legislators urged the Presidential Office to quickly engineer new strategies and measures before the total destruction of the DPP's reputation and image by one single presidential aide.

They said the party, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet), and other agencies should all make concerted efforts to immediately and effectively contain the extensive damage caused by Chen Che-nan, who has become the highest-ranked official in the DPP government seen handcuffed on way to court hearing and a detention center.

To forestall public criticisms, President Chen already talked his wife into suspending stock investments and ordered all Cabinet officials to put their assets into the hands of trust companies.

The reopening of the case involving Chen Che-nan is seen by many in Taiwan as a sign for the firming up of the judicial community with renewed enthusiasm to crack down on the rampant scandals and scams in Taiwan society.

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