Air Force 1 involved in laundering in Taiwan?
Some intriguing details were published of a suspected money laundering scheme that may have benefited a Taiwan ex-president and his family — under an arrangement that could have links to terrorist cells, and that allegedly involved a bank in Palau.
The Chens, former first family of Taiwan, are suspected of funneling as much as $45 million dollars through Palau. And, according to a report appearing in the September 3rd edition of the China Post, as much as $40 million is presumed by authorities to have been deposited in the U.S. bank accounts of former President Chen Shui-bian’s son and daughter.
Citing The Next magazine’s latest issue, The China Post reports that in September 2006 then-President Chen used Taiwan’s “Air Force One” to transport $40 million dollars for deposit into the National Development Bank of Palau during a visit to the country. Kuomintang lawmaker Chiu Yi, one of the first politicians to allege Chen’s role in taking bribes, money laundering and embezzlement, made the claim on Taiwanese television that the money was stashed aboard the jet when it departed for the state trip. Chen’s office has flatly denied the allegations and has threatened to sue political commentator Sisy Chen for making similar claims last week in a column for the Apple Daily newspaper, for what it regards as a smear against the ex-leader.
The Taiwan Air Force in a statement denied any wrongdoings or cash transports.
Perhaps more shocking than the questionable circumstances of the transfer is where part of the money may have been gone. The Post goes on to state:
Quoting anonymous sources, the Next magazine said the information was revealed by U.S. government officials who alerted the Palauan government on the money flow and suspected that it could be related to operations of international terrorist organizations.
President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008, Chen Shui-ban was alleged to have shipped $5 million through Palau before the $40 million transport. In November of 2008 Chen was detained on corruption charges stemming from accusations that he kept a special fund and was involved in money laundering. (See the 2008 MSNBC story.)
The Next also reports “that prosecutors have recently made a request for legal assistance from the Singaporean government for the financial transactions of Cheng Shen-chih, former chairman of Mega Financial Holding. Cheng was one of several former senior financiers who allegedly helped with the money laundering operations undertaken by the former first family.”
As of September 3rd The China Post reported that former President Chen was “still awaiting a court verdict for his alleged involvement in embezzling public funds and international money laundering operations.”
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