Business Crimes Hotline

According to court documents, former first lady Wu Shu-Jen accepted a 200 million (approximately $6 million) New Taiwan dollar bribe from Yuanta Securities Co Ltd. (Yuanta), a subsidiary of one of the largest financial holding companies in Taiwan, during her husband's administration in 2004. Yuanta allegedly paid the bribe to ensure that president Chen Shui-Bian would not oppose its acquisition of a rival financial holding company. Yuanta Executives allegedly carried the $6 million cash payment into the president's home in fruit boxes.

To launder the bribed funds, Wu Shu-Jen routed the payment through Swiss and Hong Kong bank accounts, shell companies, and a St. Kitts and Nevis trust before purchasing a condominium in New York and a home in Virginia, both of which were held by two British Virgin Islands limited liability companies.

In 2009, Chen Shui-Bian and Wu Shu-Jen were charged with bribery, money laundering and corruption. The former first lady admitted to laundering $2.2 million and forging financial documents, and the former president was convicted of embezzlement and accepting bribes. They were both sentenced to prison time and were subsequently released on medical parole.

In late 2012, U.S. District Courts in New York and Virginia authorized the seizure of Wu Shu-Jen's American properties (worth $2.1 million at the time of the forfeitures) when prosecutors learned the real estate had been purchased with tainted funds. The United States sold the properties two years later for $1.5 million.

The identification of Wu Shu-Jen's illicitly purchased properties was orchestrated by the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative (the Initiative), which was launched by the DOJ in 2010 and seeks to investigate and prosecute asset recovery cases where foreign officials have laundered funds in the United States. The Initiative is carried out by a team of lawyers, investigators, and financial analysts and is aligned with the DOJ's Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section.

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