Prosecutors in Taipei captured a large quantity of concealed jewelry of Wu Shu-chen, wife of former Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian, who is charged with embezzlement, from the home of Huang Fang-yan, one of Wu's close friends.

Chen and his wife are accused of taking bribes worth 100 million New Taiwan dollars and 6 million U.S. dollars in a corporate land procurement. The couple are also allegedly involved in pocketing over 104 million New Taiwan dollars of special funds. Chen and his collaborators are also accused of laundering the illegal income.

Among Chen's hidden jewelry are over 80 pieces of precious diamonds, including 11 undecorated ones that are worth over 47 million New Taiwan dollars (1.34 million U.S. dollars), said Chen Yun-nan, spokesman of the Special Investigation Division, at Friday's press conference.

The investigators are yet to evaluate the rest 70-plus of the jewelry uncovered at Huang's home, Chen said.

According to the spokesman, Huang left Taiwan for the United States last November and he has not returned so far. This January, Huang made a long-distance call from the United States to the investigators to confess that he had helped Wu hide the latter's jewelry.

The prosecutors searched Huang's home immediately after receiving Huang's call. Later, they uncovered the jewelry, and all the jewelry will be sent to specialized institutions for evaluation.

Huang had refused to return to Taiwan to attend the court as a witness, though the prosecutors had repeatedly ordered him to do so. On March 3, the prosecutors charged Huang with the crime of money laundering and they are likely to issue an arrest warrant for him.

Source: Xinhua