Taiwan’s First Lady Cleared in Case – AP

From AP via the Wall Street Journal:

A Taiwanese prosecutor indicted two businessmen for breach of trust, but cleared the wife of President Chen Shui-bian of involvement in a scandal surrounding the takeover of an upscale department store.

The opposition has accused first lady Wu Shu-chen of accepting free vouchers from the management of Sogo Department Store in return for her influence in a takeover bid for the store.

Prosecutor Lin Ching-chun said yesterday that Ms. Wu received free store vouchers valued at 270,000 New Taiwan dollars, or about US$8,000, but said there was no evidence that she had tried to influence the bid.

Those gift certificates were among vouchers valued at NT$14 million that Sogo’s original owner gave a middleman in 2002 to help the department store obtain a syndicated loan to bail it out of its financial crisis, according to the letter of indictment.[Full Text]

Also read Protesters Fuel a Long-Shot Bid to Oust Taiwan’s Leader from the New York Times.