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TAIPEI: The wife of former Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian has denied that she had stashed 22 million US dollars in a local firm in the latest development in a graft scandal implicating her family.
"Wu Shu-chen was hospitalised during the time," her lawyer, Lee Sheng-hsiung said.
"It was impossible for her to assign anyone to move the money to Yuanta Financial.
"She swears on her life that she has not interfered in financial reforms" during the ex-leader's term, Lee told reporters.
The lawyer's remarks came after Tu Li-ping, a Yuanta Securities board director, reportedly said Wu asked her to take 740 million Taiwan dollars (22.43 million US) in cash to her firm for safe-keeping during a campaign to oust Chen in 2006.
Tu has admitted giving the Chen family 200 million Taiwan dollars when Yuanta was in the process of merging with another company but denied it was a bribe.
Wu, meanwhile, said through her lawyer that she only accepted 20 million dollars in the form of a "political donation" from Yuanta.
Tu was questioned and released on bail on Friday in a money laundering probe that has already seen the former president put behind bars.
Prosecutors have raided three companies, including Yuanta, over their suspected roles in alleged transfers to the Chen family's overseas accounts.
Taiwanese authorities started investigating the former government's financial reforms in August, in particular looking at controversial mergers in the banking sector.
Chen, his wife, son, daughter-in-law, and brother-in-law have all been named as defendants in the money laundering case.
The family agreed this week to send back 21 million US dollars found in their Swiss bank accounts to help the probe, prosecutors said.
Chen, whose pro-independence stance while in office had angered Beijing, has repeatedly accused the island's current China-friendly government of being behind the allegations of money laundering, embezzlement, forgery, and taking bribes.
- AFP/yt
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