A former clerk at the post office in Dongyin Township, (東引) Matsu, who is accused of having stolen about NT$40 million (US$1.38 million) in postal deposits in 2005 was detained in Taipei after more than five years on the run, police said on Saturday.
“Ho Pin-hui (何品輝) has been taken into custody pending further investigations into his alleged theft of Dongyin residents’ deposits at the post office,” a police officer said.
Ho was accused of illegally remitting about NT$39.75 million in deposits from the post office in Dongyin, which encompasses a small islet in the Matsu archipelago, to his wife and relatives’ bank accounts in Taiwan proper in October 2005.
He then traveled to Taiwan and went missing after withdrawing the money from the accounts.
The Taipei Prosecutors’ Office put him on its wanted list in December 2005 on charges of embezzlement under the Anti-Corruption Act (貪汙治罪條例).
Taipei police received tips in July that suggested Ho had been moving around Taipei and New Taipei City (新北市). They formed a special team to track Ho.
“It was not easy to track him because he was very vigilant and secretive,” a police detective said.
After more than two months of intensive investigation, the team spotted Ho’s motorcycle at the intersection of Songjiang Road and Civic Boulevard on Friday afternoon. Several detectives were mobilized to corner Ho and successfully detained him when he was trying to ride his motorcycle in the evening.
Police said Ho told them he was forced to steal the postal deposits because he had to repay huge debts after incurring heavy losses in underground futures trading. Over the past five-plus years, Ho said he did odd jobs in the daytime and stayed in hotels at night.
He had only about NT$10,000 when he was arrested, police said.
Ho was also accused of stealing a motorcycle in New Taipei City’s Yingge District (鶯歌) in late 2005.
Prosecutors said Ho was previously charged in accordance with regulations governing civil servants. However, because a change in the Criminal Code has revised the definition of civil servants, Ho may no longer qualify as a civil servant.
Prosecutors said they would study all relevant documents to decide whether to deal with the case under provisions governing offenses of misappropriation, or offenses of corruption.
Ho could face life imprisonment or a prison term of more than 10 years if he is convicted of violations of the Anti--Corruption Act.
However, if he were indicted on charges of misappropriation under the Criminal Code, he might go to prison for only between one and seven years if convicted.
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