Lee and Li Attorneys-at-Law (理律法律事務所) yesterday urged a missing employee suspected of embezzling NT$3 billion to return the money and turn himself in as soon as possible.
The firm made its appeal to 41-year old Eddie Liu (劉偉杰) at a press conference yesterday, alleging that Liu stole NT$3 billion from the firm before disappearing in August.
"I am very sorry for what you have done but remaining in hiding will not solve the problem," said Paul Hsu (
According Hsu, Liu joined the firm in December 1989 as a legal assistant. In August, Liu told him that he wanted to apply for a 12-month leave-without-pay to prepare for the bar exam and Hsu approved the request.
Hsu said that the missing mo-ney will not cause the firm financial problems, but the embezzlement had hurt the firm.
Lee and Li did not release the name of the client affected by the theft or say how Liu had taken the money.
"I am not supposed to give out too much information since prosecutors are investigating the case," Hsu said, "Our professional services to our customers will continue, but I am deeply sorry to admit that this was an inside job."
Hsu said the money came from the firm's fees for handling a share sale on behalf of one of its clients.
However, a Bloomberg report yesterday identified the client as California-based SanDisk Corp, the biggest maker of flash-memory cards used in digital cameras and music players.
According to the report, SanDisk said it was told by Lee and Li that one of its senior associates had fraudulently sold 121 million United Microelectronics shares owned by SanDisk and taken the proceeds.
The market value of the misappropriated shares is about US$100 million, SanDisk told Bloomberg.
There was no explanation for the discrepancy between Lee and Li's explanation and the Bloomberg report.
The Taipei District Prosecutors' Office assigned prosecutor Kuo Yung-fa (
Daniel Song (
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