TAIWAN:FIVE FORMER ministers who served under Chen Shui-bian when he was president of Taiwan were indicted on Tuesday on corruption charges related to alleged misuse of special expense accounts.
The indictments were the latest in a series of scandals that beset Mr Chen, his aides and his family during eight years as leader of the self-ruled island that ended in May. The growing number of accusations have overshadowed Mr Chen's legacy as an advocate for Taiwanese national identity and independence from China.
The former president has been placed under investigation over his handling of secret state funds, though he has not been charged. His wife, Wu Shu-chen, was indicted on charges of embezzling $450,000 (€284,000) while Mr Chen was in office; her trial is under way. The couple's son-in-law was convicted of insider trading, and several senior aides of influence peddling.
As he lost his presidential immunity upon leaving office in May, Mr Chen may now be more vulnerable to prosecution. Ma Ying-jeou of the Nationalist Party has succeeded Mr Chen.
Taiwan's supreme prosecutor's office said that among those indicted on Tuesday were former justice minister Shih Mao-lin and former education minister Tu Cheng-sheng. The sums each of the five former ministers were alleged to have embezzled by using false receipts to claim expenses ranged from about $12,000 to $200,000, according to the official Central News Agency.
The prosecutor's office also said it had cleared several former officials of similar charges. They included former foreign minister James Huang, former economics minister Steve Chen and former mainland affairs council chairman Tsai Ing-wen, now head of Mr Chen's Democratic Progressive Party.
The new president, who also is a former mayor of Taipei, was recently acquitted of similar charges - that he misused funds from a special expense account. But Mr Chen's vice-president, Annette Liu, has been indicted in a similar case.
The indictments piling up seemed to suggest a need for better accounting of the secret funds. But Andrew Yang, secretary general of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies, said the proliferation of indictments was a sign that Taiwan is emphasising rule of law even during a change in administrations.
The allegations, by and large, related to government accounts over which senior officials have broad discretion, but they are not intended for personal use. In Mr Chen's case, they concerned funds used in Taiwan's often-secret efforts to persuade countries to forsake diplomatic relations with mainland China and opt instead to become allies of Taiwan.