Court closes corruption case against fugitive ex-NSB official

Taipei, May 3 (CNA) The Taipei District Court on Wednesday ruled that a former National Security Bureau (NSB) official, who has been on the run for nearly 25 years, cannot be tried or punished for corruption due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

Liu Kuan-chun (劉冠軍), formerly ranked as a colonel, was accused of embezzling NT$190 million (US$6.12 million) of NSB funds allocated to secret government projects.

He fled to China in September 2000, before he was indicted by prosecutors on Nov. 12, 2003 and listed as wanted by the Taipei District Court on May 21, 2004.

The court ruling said that under Taiwan's laws, the statute of limitations for corruption charges is 20 years, with another 5 years added because Liu was on the run.

It stated that the starting point of this period is the day that Liu's criminal acts ended, April 2, 1999, making the deadline to pursue his liability Feb. 24, 2025, which has passed.

The ruling can be appealed.

Prosecutors, however, were able to recover some of the embezzled funds. About NT$129 million of the allegedly embezzled money was retrieved in March 2023 when shares owned by Liu were seized and sold.

A re-examination of Liu's case by the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office in 2021 also showed that he was suspected of surrendering to the Chinese government and espionage.

He is still wanted for the espionage case.