An employee with state-owned oil supplier CPC Corp., Taiwan has been detained and held incommunicado on suspicion of having siphoned off NT$40 million (US$1.32 million) through bribes and kickbacks while on the job, Keelung prosecutors said Saturday.

The suspect, identified by his last name Chang (?), is being investigated for alleged violation of the Anti-Corruption Act, according to the Keelung District Prosecutors Office, which received court approval to keep him in custody.

Prosecutors believe that Chang has pocketed more than NT$40 million during his roughly 20 years at CPC through his schemes, and they said the court also granted their request to freeze his bank assets totaling roughly NT$6.5 million.

Chang has been employed at CPC Corp.’s Keelung office for roughly 20 years, and he was primarily responsible for purchasing parts for the company’s gas and fuel trucks in the city and for the maintenance of their paint jobs, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors indicated that they received tip-offs that Chang had padded costs and received kickbacks from parts suppliers on a monthly basis and that he was often entertained by them.

Investigators working on the case were able to gain hard evidence of Chang taking bribes from one of his suppliers in July, and they decided to search his home and office the following month after a warrant was granted by a local court, they said.

Subsequent raids were also carried out at the sites of those allegedly involved in the collusion.

Two businesspeople identified only by their last names Tang (?) and Chen (?) were brought in for questioning but were later released on bail of NT$300,000 and NT$200,000, respectively, prosecutors said.

More individuals implicated in the case were called in for questioning Friday, they said.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel