Former president's house searched

The bureau claimed the information was then passed onto then MJIB Director Yeh Sheng-mao, whom was then expected to give it to the top prosecutor.

It said it does not know why the prosecutor general did not receive it.

While the case was still unexposed in Taiwan, Swiss authorities had already opened a money-laundering probe into some bank accounts belonging to Huang.

On July 11, Liu Kuan-ping, then Taipei's representative in Switzerland, received a letter from Swiss prosecutors asking for Taiwan's assistance in the probe.

But Liu, who was appointed to the job in February and resigned on July 29, did not send the letter to the Foreign Ministry in Taipei till July 23.

Liu denied that he deliberately delayed sending the letter, according to the Central News Agency, which interviewed him in Switzerland.

He explained that the letter came as ordinary mail - it was not even registered, and there was no indication that it was meant to be secret.

Although he acknowledged the matter mentioned in the letter may look sensitive, he said he found no reason to believe that the letter should be urgently forwarded back to Taiwan.

He said he received it on Friday and did nothing about it until Wednesday, when he signed the document needed for the letter be sent back to Taipei.

But the letter did not make it to the representative office's weekly diplomatic mail bag, which had just been sent back to Taiwan. The letter had to wait for the next mail bag on July 23, he said.

"I have a clear conscience," Liu told CNA as he dismissed allegations that he intentionally delayed the letter.

Back in Taipei, Cabinet Secretary General Steve Hsueh denied that he had leaked information that led to the exposure of Chen's alleged money-laundering in the press.

He demanded an apology from Legislator Ker Chien-ming of the Democratic Progressive Party for making the allegations. Hsueh said he may take legal actions if Ker refuses to do so.

Ker was cited by the Liberty Times as claiming that the leak was the result of government manipulation, and he named Hsueh as the one who fed the press.

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