Chen Shui Bian has illegally "paid" himself US$31
million during the 8 years as President or about S$5.4m per
year.
Who dare say that Singapore minister's salary is the
highest in the world now?
Aug 15, 2008
TAIPEI - TAIWAN'S former president Chen Shui Bian on Friday quit
the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) after money laundering
allegations against him and his family surfaced this week.
'I have to say sorry to DPP members and supporters with a heavy
heart. I let everybody down and caused irreparable damage to the
party. This was not my intention but I made mistakes,' Chen said in
a statement.
'To show my deepest remorse, my wife Wu Shu Chen and I leave the
DPP from now,' he said.
The statement came hours after Taiwan's premier, Mr Liu Chao
shiuan, confirmed that an investigation had been launched into the
money laundering claims implicating the Chen family following
similar moves by Swiss authorities.
Copies of Swiss documents obtained by Kuomintang lawmaker Hung
Hsiu Chu showed that Chen's son Chen Chih Chung and daughter-in-law
Huang Jui Ching had transferred some 31 million US dollars (S$43.9
million) to Huang's Swiss bank accounts in 2007.
The former president on Thursday admitted that his wife had
wired abroad 20 million US dollars from his past campaign funds,
saying she had done so without his knowledge, but he denied money
laundering charges.
He also vowed to donate the overseas funds to public
affairs.
A string of corruption scandals implicating Chen, his family and
top DPP officials has tarnished the party's image and led to its
defeat in a March presidential vote.
Chen is already under investigation for allegedly embezzling
14.8 million Taiwan dollars in special expenses from the government
while he was president, and his wife is on trial for corruption and
document forgery in the same case.
He was named a suspect in the case in 2006 but escaped immediate
prosecution because he had presidential immunity. -- AFP
are you cock sure that our ministers never illegally pay
themselves like ah bian?
