The US may have been influenced by pressure from Taipei in its decision to seize properties in New York and Virginia that had allegedly been bought with bribes paid to the former first family, a Taiwan-born lawyer said.

The US Department of Justice has filed civil forfeiture complaints against former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), based almost entirely on information from President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration and before Taiwanese courts have made a final ruling in the case, said Yang Tai-yu, who now runs a law practice in Iowa.