Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian's family under fire over stock scandal

Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian's family has again come under fire over insider trading of stocks.

Using his mother's name, Chen's son-in-law Chao Chien-min bought shares in the ailing Taiwan Development and Trust Corp. just before their value skyrocketed. Chao profited greatly from the deal, according to Taiwan media reports.

Taiwan's prosecution department has detained Tsai Ching-wen, a member of the board of directors of the securities company involved in the case, for questioning.

Taiwan media reports say that in addition to insider trading, corruption and manipulation of policy for private gains may also have occurred.

The Taiwan Development and Trust Corp. had been a financially troubled company that faced difficulty in getting loans.

Following a dinner between Chao and executives of Taiwan Development and Trust Corp. and heavyweight stock speculators, Chao bought shares in the company. Then the share price skyrocketed after a banking consortium bailed it out.

Under mounting criticism of Chen Shui-bian's family, Chao has made a public apology, quitted Chen's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and offered to donate part of his profits from the controversial deal to charity.

Earlier, Chen Shui-bian's wife Wu Shu-chen had been accused of profiting from insider trading in another case and accepting department store vouchers worth millions of Taiwan dollars from a friend.

The chain of scandals have seriously affected the image of the DPP and Chen Shui-bian. According to a recent opinion poll conducted by the Taiwan-based United Daily News, 54 percent of the respondents believe Chen Shui-bian cannot shirk his responsibility in these scandals. Just 20 percent of respondents approved of Chen's performance, the lowest figure since Chen became Taiwan leader.

Only 17 percent of the respondents approved of the performance of the DPP, also the lowest figure since it came to power in Taiwan.

Source: Xinhua