The chief accountant of former Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian pleaded guilty yesterday to document forgery in the special state fund embezzlement case, saying she was doing so under the instruction of her former bosses.
The chief accountant of former Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian pleaded guilty yesterday to document forgery in the special state fund embezzlement case, saying she was doing so under the instruction of her former bosses.
Chen Chen-hui, a defendant-turned-witness, told Judge Tsai Shou-hsun in Taipei District Court that she was willing to testify against the former president, his wife, Wu Shu-chen, and two of Chen’s other key aides if necessary.
The chief accountant, however, pleaded not guilty to embezzlement and money-laundering charges, saying she merely followed Chen’s instructions and those of his wife and the two aides in relation to the special state funds and the wiring of money abroad.
Chen Chen-hui, the former president’s accountant for two decades, was the first of 14 defendants in the massive corruption case to be detained, on September 25. She was released on November 20 after she had agreed to become a witness and handed over a computer drive containing records of all revenue and expenditure by the former first family between 2000 and last year.
Court officials said Chen Chen-hui admitted lying to prosecutors in 2006, when she told them there had been no wrongdoing in the accounting of the special state funds allocated to the president.
She also said she had followed instructions from Chen Shui-bian’s accounting office to fake monthly statements for the special funds between January 2003 and May 2006.
But she said that from the start, she was told the funds belonged to the president and she merely did accounting based on receipts provided by his wife.
She also said she followed the instructions of the two chief aides - Ma Yung-cheng and Lin Te-hsun - concerning the funds and Wu’s instructions to wire the money abroad.
She said she had not taken any of the money for herself, and that was the basis for her not guilty plea on the embezzlement and money-laundering charges.
The scandal-tainted former president and his wife were indicted in December on charges of embezzling NT$104 million (HK$24.7 million) in special state funds.
The two were also charged with money-laundering, taking bribes and other offences.
Prosecutor Lin Chi-hui yesterday said Chen Chen-hui had agreed to testify against the former presidential couple and had been highly co-operative with prosecutors. In exchange, they had requested that she be given no jail sentence.
Chen Chen-hui was the seventh defendant to plead guilty since the court started hearings in the corruption case last month. Others who have pleaded guilty to either money-laundering or corruption charges are Chen Shui-bian’s son, Chen Chih-chung; daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching; brother-in-law Wu Ching-mao; two close associates of Wu Shu-chen; and a former science park administration director.
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Chen Shui-bian’s accountant admits forging documents
Lawrence Chung in Taipei
5 February 2009
The chief accountant of former Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian pleaded guilty yesterday to document forgery in the special state fund embezzlement case, saying she was doing so under the instruction of her former bosses.
Chen Chen-hui, a defendant-turned-witness, told Judge Tsai Shou-hsun in Taipei District Court that she was willing to testify against the former president, his wife, Wu Shu-chen, and two of Chen’s other key aides if necessary.
The chief accountant, however, pleaded not guilty to embezzlement and money-laundering charges, saying she merely followed Chen’s instructions and those of his wife and the two aides in relation to the special state funds and the wiring of money abroad.
Chen Chen-hui, the former president’s accountant for two decades, was the first of 14 defendants in the massive corruption case to be detained, on September 25. She was released on November 20 after she had agreed to become a witness and handed over a computer drive containing records of all revenue and expenditure by the former first family between 2000 and last year.
Court officials said Chen Chen-hui admitted lying to prosecutors in 2006, when she told them there had been no wrongdoing in the accounting of the special state funds allocated to the president.
She also said she had followed instructions from Chen Shui-bian’s accounting office to fake monthly statements for the special funds between January 2003 and May 2006.
But she said that from the start, she was told the funds belonged to the president and she merely did accounting based on receipts provided by his wife.
She also said she followed the instructions of the two chief aides - Ma Yung-cheng and Lin Te-hsun - concerning the funds and Wu’s instructions to wire the money abroad.
She said she had not taken any of the money for herself, and that was the basis for her not guilty plea on the embezzlement and money-laundering charges.
The scandal-tainted former president and his wife were indicted in December on charges of embezzling NT$104 million (HK$24.7 million) in special state funds.
The two were also charged with money-laundering, taking bribes and other offences.
Prosecutor Lin Chi-hui yesterday said Chen Chen-hui had agreed to testify against the former presidential couple and had been highly co-operative with prosecutors. In exchange, they had requested that she be given no jail sentence.
Chen Chen-hui was the seventh defendant to plead guilty since the court started hearings in the corruption case last month. Others who have pleaded guilty to either money-laundering or corruption charges are Chen Shui-bian’s son, Chen Chih-chung; daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching; brother-in-law Wu Ching-mao; two close associates of Wu Shu-chen; and a former science park administration director.
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