Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) faces a jail sentence of up to 28.5 years after being indicted today on bribery charges and other forms of corruption, in connection with real estate dealings during his second term as Taipei mayor from 2018-2022.
He was also charged for suspected involvement in irregularities in his party's campaign finances during the 2024 presidential election which he ran as a candidate in.
Prosecutors are seeking a total sentence of 28.5 years for Ko, comprising 15 years for bribery, 5 years and 6 years for separate cases of embezzlement and 2.5 years for breach of public trust, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office said.
Photo: Taipei Times
Ten other suspects were also indicted in the two anti-corruption investigations, including former Taipei Deputy Mayor Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲); Taipei City Councilor Ying Hsiao-wei (應曉薇); Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗), finance chief of Ko's 2024 election campaign office; and Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京), founder and chairman of the real estate conglomerate Core Pacific Group.
In the first case, known as the Core Pacific City case, Ko is accused of accepting bribes of up to NT$17.1 million (US$0.52 million) to help the real-estate company Core Pacific Group illegally increase the floor area ratio (FAR) of one of its redevelopment projects in a bid to raise the financial value of the property.
In the second case, Ko and other alleged accomplices are suspected of embezzling political donations of over NT$68 million during the 2024 presidential election campaign and illegally using donations to a foundation, established by Ko in 2022, to pay the salaries of his campaign staff.
The evidence found by prosecutors included written instructions for suspected accomplices to leave the country, and notes asking whether the financial accounts of MuKo Public Relations company, which is closely associated with Ko, had been checked, according to the indictment.
It said the paper bearing those instructions and notes had been torn up, and the pieces were found on the premises of Ko's office.
"This proves that he is making excuses and attempting to cover up his actions," the indictment said, adding that Ko's attitude had been "poor" during the investigation.
“The defendant, Ko, violated his vow as a mayor to not accept bribes, and abide by our national laws. Instead, Ko intended to help the group obtain billions of dollars in illegal benefits, while collecting millions in bribes,” said Kao Yi-shu (高一書), the lead prosecutor, while unveiling the charges today.
Prosecutors are also seeking legal assistance to repatriate Hsu Chih-yu (許芷瑜), who flew to Japan in August where she has since remained.
Hsu, who also goes by “Orange” (橘子), served as Ko’s personal secretary during his second term as mayor from 2018 to 2022.
Prosecutors said Ko had handed over the money to Hsu and instructed her to leave the country in a memo that was later torn up.
Hsu has been issued an arrest warrant and her passport was revoked after prosecutors summoned her in vain, they said.
The indictment by the Taipei District Prosecutors Office came nearly four months after Ko, chairman of Taiwan's third-largest political party, was first detained and held incommunicado during the investigation of the bribery and corruption allegations against him.
Charges were also brought against Huang Ching-mao (黃景茂), former head of Taipei's urban development department; Shao Hsiu-pei (邵琇珮), executive secretary at the city government's Urban Planning Commission; Tuanmu Cheng (端木正), former presidential campaign accountant for the TPP; Core Pacific supervisor Chang Chih-cheng (張志澄); Ying's assistant Wu Shun-min (吳順民); and Li Wen-chuan (李文娟), chairperson of MuKo Public Relations.
Prosecutors are requesting prison terms ranging from 1 year to 17 years and 4 months for seven of the accomplices while asking the court to mete out "appropriate" prison terms to the other three.
Ko and the accomplices had made NT$93.71 million in illegal gains, prosecutors said.
Ying is facing a sentence of 16 years and 6 months and a fine of NT$50 million for receiving bribes and money laundering, prosecutors said.
Ying had received a bribe of NT$52.5 million from Sheen, who was found to have bribed Taipei city officials to illegally increase the FAR of a site formerly occupied by Core Pacific City to raise the property's financial value, they said.
Ying's assistant Wu had also received a bribe of more than NT$3.63 million and helped Sheen to persuade city officials, they said.
Sheen is facing a sentence of 17 years and a fine of NT$33 million for bribing officials to try to make tens of billions of dollars in illicit gains, they said.
Prosecutors also sought a sentence of 10 years and a fine of NT$10 million for Lee who was indicted for receiving bribes and embezzling tens of millions of dollars in political donations.
Pong cooperated with investigators and came clean with his wrongdoings, according to prosecutors who are seeking a sentence of 3 years for him after considering remission.
Shao also demonstrated a good attitude during the investigation and confessed her wrongdoings, said prosecutors so they are recommending a sentence of 1 year and 3 months with a suspended sentence of 2 years.
Prosecutors are recommending a sentence of 7 years and a fine of NT$10 million for Huang and a sentence of 1 year for Tuanmu, as they both demonstrated a poor attitude during the investigation.
A former surgeon, Ko ran for president in January, winning 26 percent of the vote, as he attracted mostly younger voters who were frustrated with the policies of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Since Ko's detention, the TPP, which he established in 2019, has not selected an acting chairman.
Additional reporting by AP and Fion Khan
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