Prosecutors are expanding their investigation to 100 officials, including 55 National Security Bureau (NSB) officials, for alleged involvement in a case of duty-free cigarette smuggling.
Using China Airlines (CAL) data starting from 2006, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office is investigating potential wrongdoing by government officials during former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration from 2008 to 2016 and former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) administration from 2000 to 2008.
Investigators in the coming days are to question a former colonel surnamed Wang (王) and a former lieutenant colonel surnamed Kuo (過) who led the bureau’s security teams for Ma’s three state visits during which excessive preorders of duty-free cigarettes have been uncovered.
During Ma’s trip in July 2014, 1,768 cartons of cigarettes were purchased, followed by 2,973 cartons in July 2015 and 3,677 cartons in March 2016, the Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) reported.
Wang and Kuo were allegedly in charge of taking preorders from NSB and government officials, it added.
“I knew nothing about it at the time,” Ma said this weekend when asked about the airline’s data, while urging the judiciary to conduct a thorough investigation.
Prosecutors have expanded their list of people who they believe to have preordered excessive amounts of duty-free goods during President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) trip to the nation’s Caribbean allies this month to about 100 people, up from 50.
The list reportedly identifies 55 NSB officials and security personnel, including 15 from the main bureau, along with unspecified numbers from its Special Service Command Center — the branch in charge of the president’s protection — and drivers from its transportation division, media reported.
The list was compiled using documents and other evidence from the dormitories of two detained NSB officers, Wu Tsung-hsien (吳宗憲) and Chang Heng-chia (張恒嘉), as well as preorders that record the amount and payments allegedly given on the orders of NSB supervising officials.
The 55 suspects made orders in five groups, although work is still under way to identify more people, as some orders were made using aliases, investigators said.
Some NSB personnel have contacted reporters to proclaim their innocence, saying that they were instructed by higher-ranking bureau officials — some of whom had retired — to make the purchases.
Prosecutors said that all the people on the list would be questioned to verify the total amounts involved and whether higher-ranking bureau officials were the main instigators.
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