Taipei, March 7 (CNA) Prosecutors recently seized and sold shares owned by a former National Security Bureau (NSB) officer who went on the run 22 years ago, to recover some of the NT$190 million (US$6.21 million) he is accused of embezzling, the Taiwan Shilin District Prosecutors Office said Tuesday.
In order to recover some of the funds embezzled by Liu Kuan-chun (劉冠軍), who has been on the wanted list since September 2000, prosecutors secured a permit from a court in 2021 to seize equities and deposits which he owned, as well as a luxury residential property in Wenshan Distract in Taipei registered under the name of his wife, and jewelry and gold coins found in his wife’s safe box, prosecutors said.
The four stocks seized by prosecutors were Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the most heavily weighed stock in Taiwan; smaller contract chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), DRAM chip supplier Winbond Electronics Corp., and surveillance device brand Everspring Industry Co., according to prosecutors.
After including stock dividends distributed by the four tech companies over the last 22 years, there were 208,309 TSMC shares, 190,837 UMC shares, 463,669 million Winbond shares, and 99,858 Everspring shares, prosecutors said.
In February, the prosecutors office received permission from the court to dispose of the four stocks. Based on the closing prices of the these stocks on Feb. 19, 2021, the market value totaled NT$130 million, NT$11.30 million, NT$14.11 million and NT$1.96 million, respectively, they said.
To prevent any volatility, in particular for TSMC shares, which top NT$500 each, the sales of the four stocks were carried out in phases in five trading sessions in February, and after calculating capital reductions in a portion of the stocks worth NT$110,954, the transactions of these stocks allowed the office to retrieve about NT$129 million in funds embezzled by Liu in the case, prosecutors said.
Regarding the seized jewelry and gold coins, however, the court ruled there was no way to prove that these items had been owned by Liu or that they were part of the assets Liu illegally obtained so prosecutors could not dispose of them.
Prosecutors have appealed the ruling.
Liu fled overseas in September 2000 after allegedly embezzling about NT$190 million of NSB funds allocated to secret government projects.
Taiwanese authorities issued a warrant the same month for his arrest on suspicion of money laundering and corruption.
In addition to the alleged fund embezzlement, Liu is also suspected of having surrendered to the Chinese government and engaging in espionage operations.
An re-examination of the case by the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office in 2021 showed that Liu could have leaked information about the secret projects for which he was responsible.
