A soon-to-be retired colonel in the National Security Bureau (NSB) who had NT$90 million deposited in his bank account prior to the presidential election has been cleared of wrongdoing.
NSB officials said the bureau had investigated the matter but cleared Colonel Liu Kuan-chun (
"We found that the money belonged to Liu and his family members," said a spokeswoman for the NSB, who declined to be identified. "It was used purely for personal investments."
According to a front-page news report last Thursday, NT$90 million went into Liu's bank accounts in the last two weeks before the March 18 presidential election.
The paper alleged that part of the money was used to buy stocks and the rest was transferred to unidentified foreign countries.
The paper suspected that the money was embezzled from public funds and was meant to secretly pay for domestic intelligence operations by the bureau.
The report was another embarrassing incident for the NSB, which is still reeling from the recent unapproved visit to China by one of its top retired officials.
Liu issued a statement to the press yesterday, saying he was innocent of the charges that were levelled against him in the press reports.
"I am going to retire in August. The so-called sudden increase in the amount of money deposited in my bank is actually the result of a misunderstanding. The money constitutes some of the financial assets of my family, which I had to handle in the two weeks before the presidential election," Liu said.
"I have subjected all records of deposits and withdrawals concerning my bank accounts for inspection by the bureau's disciplinary office. Nothing irregular has been found as a result," Liu said.
"I strongly condemn the untrue reports about me and I reserve the right to take legal action against those who have produced the false reports."
Liu said he would be willing to cooperate with investigators to clear the matter up.
An intelligence source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said inspectors with the NSB discovered the suspicious cash flow into Liu's bank accounts when they were investigating Major General Pan Hsi-hsien (
They had been trying to determine whether Pan had taken away more money than he needed to visit China.
Pan, who retired from the NSB on June 1 and left for China on June 4, was taken into custody by Chinese security agents in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, the NSB announced last week. He reportedly is still in custody.
There are certain connections between the two separate incidents involving Pan and Liu, the source said, who also claimed there was some kind of political in-fighting going on in the NSB.
This could produce some positive results in the long term, the source said, as the NSB would be put under greater scrutiny by lawmakers, particularly in respect of the management of its large budget.
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