Taipei Times
Date: Aug 11, 2017
By: Yang Chun-hui and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiang Yung-chang (江永昌) on Wednesday
A Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter is pictured over Kaohsiung on Monday.
Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
urged prosecutors to exercise their newly acquired powers and seize the money if it was found to have been laundered during the procurement of Dassault Mirage 2000 aircraft between 1992 and 1997.
Chiang made the remarks on Facebook in response to news that the Ministry of National Defense is suing France over kickbacks French officials received for selling Mirage 2000 jets to Taiwan.
The Taipei District Court on July 27 ordered the confiscation of US$900 million that was found to have been laundered during the procurement of Lafayette-class frigates, in accordance with last year’s amendments to the Criminal Code, Chiang said.
That the frigates had cost the nation NT$78 billion (U$2.57 billion at current exchange rates) — less than half of the fighters’ cost of NT$160 billion — suggest that an “astronomical sum” of kickbacks might have been involved, he said. [FULL STORY]
