Prosecutors yesterday requested the detention of a Taipei City councilor and a businessman in connection to a corruption case embroiling former Taipei mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲).
Prosecutors requested pretrial detention for Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Core Pacific Group (威京集團) chairman Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) for their suspected involvement in bribery related to real-estate dealings.
Ying was arrested on Tuesday night at Taichung International Airport as she was about to board a flight to Hong Kong.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Several of their associates were released on bail, while a request to detain Ying’s assistant, Wu Shun-min (吳順民), was approved.
Six suspects have been named in the case, and 12 witnesses had been questioned as of Wednesday evening.
In the ongoing investigation by Taipei prosecutors and the Ministry of Justice’s Agency Against Corruption, evidence reportedly pointed to Sheen making several transfers totaling NT$45 million (US$1.41 million) to Ying, who allegedly conducted five negotiations with the Taipei City Government regarding Sheen’s Living Mall redevelopment project.
The investigation also found Sheen had allegedly set up a special fund of about NT$300 million for “public relations expenses” which the prosecutors suspect served as bribe money for other city councilors and officials.
When questioned on Wednesday, Sheen was quoted as saying that government officials from the administration of former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and Ko had met with him, asking to pay bribes to approve a redevelopment project with increased floor area ratio (FAR), allegedly for Core Pacific Group to add more than NT$40 billion to its financial gains.
Ying allegedly acted as an intermediary between Ko and Sheen, with city government records showing that Ying had arranged for three lunch meetings between the two.
As a city councilor, she also allegedly lobbied for approval of the project and pressured city officials during meetings to grant a higher FAR, raising it to 392 percent and finally to 840 percent, other city councilors said.
KMT Taipei City Councilor Chung Hsiao-ping (鍾小平) said that Ying had had good relations with Sheen for decades, as their families had known each other.
Ying has served four terms as city councilor, with Sheen being the main financial backer for her campaigns, Chung said.
After preliminary investigations in May, Ko was listed as a suspect in the case for possible contravention of the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例).
News reports said that prosecutors would serve summons to Ko for questioning early next week.
Meanwhile, other city councilors from the KMT and the Democratic Progressive Party have alleged over the past few days that Ko had made several personal visits to venues owned by Sheen.
Asked about the allegation, Ko said that he went to a private dinner and an event held by Sheen, but only after the presidential election in January, while denying having other meetings with him.
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