Prosecutors in Taipei indicted Chao Chien-ming on charges of insider trading on Monday and are recommending an eight-year jail sentence for the son-in-law of scandal-hit Chen Shui-bian.

Chao and six others are accused of involvement in insider trading of shares of a local property company.

The prosecutors also demand a 10-year jail term for Chao Yu-chu, father of Chao Chien-ming and an eight-year term for SuTe-chien, chairman of Taiwan Development and Trust Corp, according to local media reports in Taipei.

Chen's son-in-law has refused to confess since being arrested on May 25 although he is believed to have pocketed tens of millions of New Taiwan Dollars from these activities.

Chao, an orthopedist, is married to Chen's daughter Chen Hsing-yu.

The insider trading scandal has caused big ructions in Taiwan's political arena. The Kuomintang Party and People First Party have tabled a bill demanding Chen Shui-bian step down.

(Xinhua News Agency July 11, 2006)