TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — An executive at state-run oil company CPC Corporation, Taiwan was arrested after investigators discovered NT$27 million (US$970,000) in cash stashed inside his company office, reports said Thursday (Jan. 27).

Acting upon information from a whistleblower, the Qiaotou District Prosecutors Office in Kaohsiung City formed a special taskforce to look into the activities of Hsu Han (徐漢), the executive director of CPC’s refinery department, CNA reported.

On Jan. 25, as the taskforce suspected a businessman named Liu (劉) was on his way to visit Hsu carrying bribes, it obtained a search warrant to raid the CPC executive’s office the following day. The investigators found NT$27 million in cash which Hsu was unable to explain.

At 4 a.m. Thursday, a court decided Hsu should be detained incommunicado, Liu should be detained, and two other businesspeople allegedly involved in bribery, Lee (李) and Huang (黃), should be released on bail of NT$800,000 and NT$300,000 respectively. In 2020, Hsu was already allegedly paid off for helping a business to obtain contracts awarded by his CPC department.

The oil company said it was cooperating with the investigation, while it would also look into Hsu’s past dealings during his career. Prosecutors called on other CPC staff and outside businesspeople involved in possible bribery schemes to come forward and help investigators.