The Taipei District Court last night granted bail for a second time to Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) after rejecting a detention request from prosecutors investigating corruption allegations against him.
The ruling was made despite the High Court earlier yesterday overturning the lower court's decision on Friday to grant him on NT$30 million bail.
The High Court revoked the lower court's bail ruling after the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office petitioned it to have Ko, Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇), Core Pacific Group (威京集團) founder and chairman Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京), and Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗), finance chief of Ko’s presidential election campaign, returned to pre-trial detention for their alleged corruption related to the Core Pacific City Co (京華城購物中心) redevelopment project.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
After the High Court’s ruling, the Taipei District Court yesterday afternoon held another hearing on whether the suspects should be detained.
The district court late last night decided to grant Ko bail, but increased the amount to NT$70 million and ordered Ko must wear an electronic tracking bracelet.
On Friday morning, Sheen was released on NT$40 million bail, Ying on NT$15 million bail and Lee on combined NT$10 million bail.
Ying, Sheen, and Lee were also granted bail for a second time last night. The district court increased the amount of bail for Sheen to NT$100 million.
The prosecutors said they wanted the suspects returned to detention after finding another key figure in the case who had fled abroad and did not comply with a request to cooperate with the investigation.
The suspects remain a flight risk, and could collude on testimony or tamper with evidence in this or three related cases, prosecutors said.
The prosecutors did not ask the court to reconsider the release of former Taipei deputy mayor Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲), who was released on NT$5 million (US$152,812) bail, as he had admitted to guilt and cooperated during the investigation.
In its ruling yesterday, the High Court said the Taipei District Court did not give sufficient reasons for why the suspects should no longer be detained, nor did it explain the measures to be taken to prevent them from fleeing the country.
It also said that bail court judges on Friday did not explain whether the set bail figures matched the alleged illicit profits made by the suspects in the case.
The High Court also said that during searches, investigators found destroyed documents and papers at Ko’s offices, as well as deleted communications and messages allegedly made by Ko, which it said could be indicative of evidence tampering.
Ko is accused of accepting bribes of up to NT$17.1 million to help Core Pacific Group illegally increase the floor area ratio of the Core Pacific City redevelopment project in a bid to raise the financial value of the property.
Ko is also accused of embezzling more than NT$68 million of political donations during his campaign for this year’s presidential election and illegally using donations made to a foundation, established by Ko in 2022, to pay the salaries of his campaign staff.
Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of 28 years, six months for Ko — 15 years for bribery, five years and six years for separate cases of embezzlement, and two years, six months for breach of public trust.
This story has been updated since it was first published.
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about 1,900 as
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
The WHO ignored early COVID-19 warnings from Taiwan, US Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill said on Friday, as part of justification for Washington withdrawing from the global health body. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said that the US was pulling out of the UN agency, as it failed to fulfill its responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO “ignored early COVID warnings from Taiwan in 2019 by pretending Taiwan did not exist, O’Neill wrote on X on Friday, Taiwan time. “It ignored rigorous science and promoted lockdowns.” The US will “continue international coordination on infectious
RSS