TAIPEI – The wife of former Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou reportedly plans to leave Mega Bank after more than three decades.
Former first lady Chow Mei-ching is reportedly expected to resign from her posts at Mega Bank and its financial group on Friday, where she has worked in a variety of roles for over 30 years, the local media reported on Thursday.
Chow’s intention to resign, reported by the local United Evening News, is expected to be reviewed at a board of directors meeting discussing the financial group’s charitable foundation, at which Chow is a high-level official.
The company said it had not received any information indicating Chow’s intention to resign.
Chow’s possible decision comes as Mega Financial Holding Co. became embroiled in a money laundering scandal in the United States, in which regulators slapped a $180 million fine on its New York branch.
Sources close to Chow indicated that her decision may have been based on the recent appointment of former First Commercial Bank Chairman Michael Chang, who is a political ally of former president Chen Shui-bian, to head Mega.
Chang’s appointment has resulted in several resignations or transfers of high level managers who served under Mega’s former chairman, Mckinney Tsai, who resigned abruptly in March. Some of those personnel changes have involved the charity. Chang is currently abroad and will not chair the Friday board meeting.
Some Kuomintang (KMT) legislators have accused the Tsai administration of “orchestrating Chow’s resignation” as a result of political motivations. Legislator Alex Fai said that despite Tsai’s moves, he expected Chow’s public image to remain untarnished.
In past months, political pundits have raised questions of Chow’s possible involvement in the scandal without providing evidence. Legislators of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party implied that the then ruling KMT may have used influence in Mega to hide its assets.
Prosecutors detained Tsai on Tuesday for breaching the Securities and Exchange Act, while 18 others were called in for questioning by the Taipei District Prosecutors Office.
Criticism and outrage over the case also led to the resignation of Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Ding Kung-wha earlier on Monday.
Chow served as the bank’s director of legal affairs before she relinquished the position after her husband Ma Ying-jeou became president in 2008.
Thereafter, she assumed high level positions in the bank and financial holding company’s charity foundations.
