TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taipei District Court extended former TPP Chair Ko Wen-je's (柯文哲) detention by two months starting June 2 for corruption charges associated with a real estate deal during his time as mayor.
The court also extended the detention of Ko's cohorts in the case, which included Core Pacific Group founder Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京), Ko's former mayor's office head Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗), and KMT Taipei City Councilor Ying Hsiao-wei (應曉薇), per PTS.
All four are being held incommunicado for fear of evidence tampering and collusion. The court also determined they were suspected of committing serious crimes and posed a flight risk.
The court has now extended the detention of the four for a third time, concluding that the reasons for their detention continue.
An investigation into the Core Pacific City case, as well as a political donations case involving Ko, was concluded by the Taipei District Prosecutors Office on Dec. 26. Ko is facing a potential combined prison sentence of 28 years and 6 months.
Elevan other individuals face charges of bribery, embezzlement, and breach of public trust.
Taiwan People's Party expressed anger over Ko's continued detention in a statement issued on Tuesday evening. The TPP stated that the court ruling did not cite any specific evidence for continued detention, thereby eroding public trust in the judiciary.
KMT Chair Eric Chu (朱立倫) added that the judiciary should immediately stop detention that is not in line with the principle of proportionality and return to the rule of evidence.
While opposition parties opposed the continued detention of Ko and others, prosecutors recently expanded their investigation into the Core Pacific Group.
A subsidiary of the company, Dingyue Development Corp., is alleged to have paid an inflated price for Core Pacific City, in effect, transferring the property within the same group for a loss of NT$3 billion (US$100.3 million). Prosecutors allege this money was pocketed by the leadership of the Core Pacific Group.
