TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taipei police will post 40 officers near Taipei District Court and keep 40 more in reserve to prevent trouble when the court announces its verdict in the corruption case against former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), reports said Wednesday.
The court session announcing the ruling has been scheduled for Thursday at 2:30 p.m., per CNA. Prosecutors have requested a prison sentence of 28 years and six months, but appeals will still be possible.
The court has ordered four key defendants in the case to be present for the verdict, but police estimate that many supporters of Ko and his TPP will also turn up outside the court.
In addition to Ko, Core Pacific Chair Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京), KMT Taipei City Councilor Ying Hsiao-wei (應曉薇), and Ko’s former office manager Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗) are supposed to attend Thursday’s session.
The case centered on allegations that Ko accepted NT$17.1 million (US$535,000) from Sheen to approve the expansion of the floor area ratio at his Core Pacific City project. In her role as a member of the Taipei City Council, Ying allegedly pressured city officials to favor the project.
The former mayor also faced charges of embezzling political donations and of campaign finance irregularities, He has insisted on his innocence and said there was no evidence of any wrongdoing.
Ko’s second and final four-year term as mayor ended in December 2022. He founded the Taiwan People’s Party and ran for president in 2024. During the investigation into the Core Pacific case, he spent more than one year in detention.
