Former National Security Bureau (NSB) chief accountant Major General Hsu Ping-chiang (徐炳強) was sentenced to 12 years in prison by the Taiwan High Court yesterday on embezzlement charges.
Hsu was accused of embezzling funds from two accounts, Changjie and Fuxing, that the Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB) had set up for the families of agents operating behind enemy lines.
Hsu, who was charged with embezzling NT$10.5 million (US$350,000), was given a 12-year sentence and deprived of civil rights for six years, while the NT$10.5 million was confiscated.
The High Court said Hsu is able to appeal the ruling with the Supreme Court.
Hsu, former NSB accounting official Colonel Chang Kao-ping (張高平), MIB logistics division chief Chin Chien (金堅) and then-Executive Yuan chief accountant Yu Chien-min (于建民) were accused of embezzling NT$35 million.
The defendants argued that deceased former National Security Bureau secretary-general Yin Tsung-wen (殷宗文) was responsible for the embezzlement.
The Shilin District Court found the defendants not guilty in the first trial.
Under to the High Court’s ruling, Yu received a 13-year sentence and was deprived of civil rights for six years, while Chin received a three-year sentence and one year of civil rights deprivation.
After the scandal broke out and Chang was called in for questioning, he left the country in a fishing boat from Donggang Township (東港) in Pingtung County to Xiamen, China, before going to Canada.
Chang has been on the wanted list since 2006.
Hsu is also a key figure in an embezzling state fund case involving former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and Lee’s aide, Liu Tai-ying (劉泰英).
Prosecutors accused them of siphoning off US$7.8 million in secret diplomatic funds to set up the Taiwan Research Institute.
Lee was acquitted by the Taipei District Court in November last year, while Liu was sentenced to two years and eight months in the same ruling.
Hsu was found not guilty in a final verdict in separate trials.
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