Taiwan Government Information Office, State Public Prosecutor-General Wu Ying-chao ordered the unsealing of Swiss bank files on Thursday related to a high-profile kickback scandal involving Taiwan's procurement of six Lafayette-class frigates from France in 1991.
Wu's directive marked an about-face from his previous announcement that the top-secret files brought back by two local prosecutors from Switzerland earlier this month would not be unpacked until after the December 3 “three-in-one” elections.
Wu said he made the about-turn after receiving an emergency report from the prosecutorial panel investigating the scandal that the Swiss authorities have demanded that the Taiwan government come up with a request before mid-December for the return of a huge Lafayette-related slush fund frozen in Swiss banks.
Otherwise, the Swiss authorities will very likely un-freeze the fund, which totals 900 million Swiss francs (about NT$23 billion). Should that be the case, Wu said, the key suspect in the case, Andrew Wang, would regain access to the fund and destroy all relevant evidence.
According to Wu, the files are written in English, German and French and have to be translated into Chinese. “We must scrutinize all of the files and sort out evidence to back up our request for the return of the fund,” he added.
Under pressure from opposition lawmakers, State Public Prosecutor-General Wu Ying-chao last week said the files were under heavy guard in order to prevent any leaks. To prevent politicians from using relevant information to gain an edge in the December 3 local elections, judicial authorities said the files will not be unpacked until after the elections.
However, given the enormous size of the files and limited time available, Wu said, the investigative panel must start work immediately. He stressed that he has demanded that the investigators and document translators keep the file contents strictly confidential.
Switzerland has provided Taiwan and two other involved countries with a collection of bank files related to the Lafayette deal.
The files include 46 bank accounts under the names of Andrew Wang, the agent in Taiwan of Thomson-CSF, the French company that sold the frigates to Taiwan, his three sons and Wang's company, all of whose accounts have been frozen by the Swiss Federal Court.
The files also include a number of previously unexposed overseas bank accounts related to the US$2.8 billion Lafayette deal, as well as information about relevant capital flow in Switzerland, judicial authorities said, adding that the Swiss court files clearly document deposit times and destinations of the capital.
Wang fled Taiwan following the death of naval Captain Yin Ching-feng, who is widely believed to have been murdered in late 1993 when he was about to blow the whistle on colleagues for allegedly taking kickbacks in the deal.
Wang has been charged in absentia with murder, corruption, money laundering and fraud.
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