Taiwan’s former first lady pleaded guilty to charges of forging documents and money laundering for sending abroad $ 2.2 mn she received from a contractor bidding for a government construction project, local media reported.
The reports came shortly after Wu Shu-chen, wheelchair-bound and looking frail and wan, entered a Taipei court room to answer the money laundering and forgery charges, as well as additional charges of looting a special presidential fund and taking bribes.
Taiwanese TV stations said that Wu denied that she embezzled money from the presidential fund, and also denied that she took bribes in connection with a land deal and the government construction project.
According to the TV reports, she said that the USD 2.2 million she wired abroad did not come from bribes she and husband Chen Shui-bian allegedly received. However, the reports said, she did not make clear where the money came from.
Chen is charged with the same offenses as his wife. He has already pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
The Taipei District Court, where Wu is being tried, had no immediate comment on the media reports.
{{/usCountry}}The Taipei District Court, where Wu is being tried, had no immediate comment on the media reports.
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