TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Former Taipei Mayor and Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Chair Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was questioned on Tuesday (Sept. 10) for the first time since being detained six days ago. 

Ko, suspected of being involved in the Core Pacific City corruption scandal, was questioned by prosecutors on Tuesday, per FTNN News. Reporters waited outside the prison transport route to take photos and ask questions.

Dressed in a yellow shirt, navy shorts, and blue-and-white slippers, Ko wore a mask and remained silent. He walked at the back of a group of prisoners.

Ko is suspected of accepting a bribe of NT$15 million (US$466,000) from Core Pacific Group Chair Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) and intervening in the Core Pacific City development project. The purpose of Tuesday's questioning by the prosecutors is likely to clarify the financial transactions and other details of the case, according to FTNN.

Although Ko repeatedly emphasized publicly that he did not know of the case, he had previously sent a message to former Taipei Deputy Mayor Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲) saying, "Since it was a consensus decision, that's how we'll explain it." The court determined that this conversation indicated the two were coordinating their testimonies. 

The court said they could be attempting to use this explanation publicly, and possibly shift blame onto the Taipei Urban Planning Commission, the committee responsible for reviewing the Core Pacific City development case.

Prosecutors also summoned several Taipei Urban Planning Commission members to testify and found that many opposed the increase in the mall's floor area ratio that Ko and Pong allegedly favored. Although the meeting seemed to reach a consensus on the surface, members said the final decision was in the hands of the chair, Pong, who prosecutors are also questioning.