Wanted NSB official has fled Taiwan

The National Security Bureau (NSB) yesterday confirmed that its former chief cashier Colonel Liu Kuan-chun (劉冠軍) fled the country sometime in mid-September after evidence began to mount implicating him in the misappropriation of public funds.

NSB Director-General Ting Yu-chou (丁渝洲) made the announcement to lawmakers yesterday during a closed-door session of the legislature's budget committee, a lawmaker said.

"Ting admitted that Liu left the country in the middle of last month. He declined to reveal, however, to which country Liu has fled," DPP lawmaker Parris Chang (張旭成) quoted Ting as saying.

"Ting said he is willing to take administrative responsibility for the matter. He did not say whether he will step down for it," Chang said.

On Sept. 28, Ting denied Liu had left the country, saying that "Liu is still in Taiwan, because his passports are still being kept by the NSB. We don't know where he is. We will try to locate him.

"As to the allegations of misappropriation of funds, we have checked all our records and have found that none of our funds are missing."

Ting's responsibility stems from the fact that he approved Liu's extended leave of absence while Liu was under investigation for allegedly absconding with some NT$90 million in public funds belonging to the bureau.

Liu was suspected to have taken advantage of the leave to arrange for his escape abroad. It is not known where Liu is, but intelligence sources suspect he might be hiding somewhere in Central or South America. Liu is believed to be with his wife.

An intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "It is relatively easy for certain NSB officials to pocket public funds since the bureau's allocation of money has never been specifically written down, especially when it comes to spending on intelligence gathering.

"As lawmakers examine the budget proposal of the NSB each year, what they can see is only a general description of what the bureau's budget will be used for. They cannot get any further information beyond that," the official said.

At the military intelligence bureau, under the NSB, some officials pockets funds because of special arrangements, the official said.

"The arrangements include, for instance, covering the deaths of Taiwan's agents in China. Although the agents are dead, they are still paid. The beneficiary is not any of the surviving families of the agents, but their supervisors," he said.