AP News, September 21st, 2007
Taiwanese prosecutors on Friday indicted the country's vice president and the chairman of the ruling party on graft charges, the latest in a series of scandals to hit the outgoing administration.
Prosecutors, however, did not bring charges against the party's presidential candidate or his vice presidential running mate, ending an investigation against them.
The decision clears the way for Frank Hsieh to lead the Democratic Progressive Party's ticket in the 2008 presidential elections.
Supreme Court prosecutorial spokesman Chen Yun-nan said staff for Vice President Annette Lu and party chairman Yu Shyi-kun collected receipts from unidentified parties and used them to claim reimbursement.
Chen said Lu received about $170,600 in reimbursement payments between 2000 and 2006, while Yu got $72,700 between 2000 and 2005. During that period, Yu was premier and secretary-general of the presidential office.
Hsieh had been under investigation for a possible misuse of funds during his tenure as mayor of the southern city of Kaohsiung and premier between 1998 and 2005.
But no evidence of wrongdoing was uncovered against either Hsieh or his running mate Su Tseng-chang, Chen said.
"We cannot say that they have committed anything illegal," he said.
There was no immediate comment from Lu or Yu on the indictments against them.
The indictments are the latest blemish against the scandal-plagued administration of President Chen Shui-bian, who leaves office next May at the conclusion of two four-year terms as Taiwan's leader.
Chen's wife is currently under indictment on charges of misusing a special presidential fund. Her trial began earlier this year, but has been suspended because of her poor health.
Chen's son-in-law was convicted last year on charges of insider trading and a number of his close associates have been accused of exploiting their positions in the Chen administration for personal financial gain.
Earlier this year a Taipei court cleared Ma Ying-jeou, presidential candidate for the opposition Nationalists, of charges that he misused a special fund during his tenure as Taipei mayor between 1998 and 2006.
