Chen Family Members Plead Guilty and Request Lenient Sentences

Chen Family Members Plead Guilty and Request Lenient Sentences

Sources: All Taipei newspapers

November 25, 2009

The Taiwan Provincial High Court, the appellate court, yesterday summoned former First Lady Wu Shu-jen and her children Chen Chih-chung and Chen Hsin-yu, as well as her son-in-law Chao Chien-ming in the appeal trial of their perjury cases. All of them pleaded guilty, but requested the Court to reduce the terms of their sentences. The Chen Hsin-yu couple and Chen Chih-chung further requested that their sentences be suspended. All of the defendants’ attorneys also stressed that the sentencing handed down by the court of first instance had been overly harsh on the defendants and not in line with the principle of proportionality, so they asked the judges to reduce the defendants’ sentences.

In 2006, the Anti-corruption Center, the predecessor of the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) under the Prosecutor General’s Office, investigated the State Affairs Fund case and prosecutors discovered that the then First Lady had collected the private invoices from the Chen Hsin-yu couple and Chen Chih-chung to claim reimbursements from the State Affairs Funds. When the prosecutors subpoenaed the Chen family’s children and son-in-law, Wu had goaded them into testifying that “All of the invoices were from purchases of gifts for our parents or the wining and dining of guests for our father, then President Chen Shui-bian. All of invoices were from activities involving public functions.” By following their mother’s instructions, they committed perjury and were later indicted on July 17, 2008 and convicted of perjury and sentenced to prison terms.

As the defendants had pleaded for more lenient sentences, the trial judge Tsai Hsin-yi asked the four defendants to submit their written requests for the sentences they considered to be appropriate. In response to Wu Shu-jen’s petition to advance the trial proceedings to the stage of closing arguments made during yesterday’s court hearing, the panel of judges turned down her request and decided to adhere to normal trial proceedings. The Court yesterday completed its preparatory procedures, and will schedule the next hearing sometime in the coming weeks.

In addition, when the media asked Wu Shu-jen about the fact that Diana Chen, former chairwoman of the Taipei Financial Center (Taipei 101), had recanted her testimony made in the court of first instance, she replied that she understood Diana Chen’s sentimentality and emotional struggles. In the November 23 court hearing, Diana Chen admitted that she had given the former First Lady a bribe of NT$ 10 million to secure her appointment as the chairwoman of Grand Cathay Securities Corporation. However, when reporters confronted Wu as to whether she had actually received the bribe, she just waved them off and gave no response.

Attachment : none