A witness believed to be crucial to the ongoing investigation into the murder of ROC Navy Captain Yin Ching-feng (
A Hong Kong court on July 12 ruled that Shan Yi-cheng (
Investigators probing the navy warship procurement scan-dal and related murder said that Shan's return would aid their inquiries.
Chinese-language newspapers reported yesterday that Shan was to be deported from Hong Kong and that prosecutors and police were planning to arrest him at Kaohsiung International Airport when he stepped off the plane.
However, Shan, accompanied by his attorney, said in an announcement in Hong Kong yesterday that there was no warrant issued for his arrest and therefore the police could not legally arrest him.
But he said he was willing to return to Taiwan and would answer questions from military procurement investigators.
One prosecutor admitted yesterday that no such order had been issued for Shan's arrest, due to a lack of sufficient evidence indicating criminal involvement.
Shan, who brokered the sale of two minesweepers, was alleged to have pocketed a commission of US$2.5 million.
He fled the country after Yin's death and disappeared until he was detained by Hong Kong authorities in March.
Yin's body was found drifting off the coast of Suao, Ilan County, on Dec. 9, 1993, apparently killed by a blow to the back of his head.
It has long been suspected that Yin was killed because he held incriminating information on navy officials involved in scandals related to the naval procurement.
Investigation of the Yin case led to 28 military officers, including 15 generals, being found guilty of corruption and accepting bribes from arms dealers. No one has ever been prosecuted, however, for Yin's murder.
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