The Taipei District Court on Friday ruled that two lawmakers involved in a bribery scandal related to a dispute over the ownership of Pacific SOGO Department Store be detained for another two months.
After receiving approval from the Legislative Yuan earlier in the day, the court announced that Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Su Chen-ching (蘇震清) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislators Sufin Siluko would be detained for another two months because of their alleged involvement.
Based on the Additional Articles of the Constitution, a court must receive permission from the legislature to detain a lawmaker.
Su and Sufin’s current three-month detention was set to expire on Tuesday, but they would now be held until Feb. 21, the court said.
The two were detained in September as part of an investigation into the long-running case.
Although they have denied wrongdoing, a panel of judges said that the complexity of the case and their involvement requires they be detained while the investigation is ongoing.
Su, Sufin and others, including former New Power Party Chairman and legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明), are accused of taking bribes from former Pacific Distribution Investment chairman Lee Heng-lung (李恆隆).
The payments were allegedly given to help Lee win a legal battle against the Far Eastern Group over ownership of the Pacific SOGO Department Store chain.
It remains unclear why Su took bribes from Lee, and that lies at the heart of the case, the judicial panel said.
In the case of Sufin, statements from Ting Fu-hua (丁復華), head of Sufin’s office, and Kuo Ke-ming (郭克銘) are also important in uncovering the truth, the panel said.
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