The Taoyuan District Court yesterday granted bail for a second time to former vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) after rejecting a detention request from prosecutors investigating graft allegations against him.
The ruling was made despite the High Court on Monday overturning the lower court’s decision on Saturday to grant him bail.
Cheng, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party, was released by the district court for a second time yesterday after paying bail of NT$12 million (US$368,777). The court also imposed limits on his movements and banned him from leaving the country.
Photo: Cheng Shu-ting, Taipei Times
Prosecutors appealed the ruling at the bail hearing.
On Friday last week, Cheng was summoned by the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office as part of an investigation into alleged corruption involving a land zoning deal that occurred while he was Taoyuan mayor from December 2014 to December 2022.
After questioning him, prosecutors said they suspected Cheng of accepting a bribe, leaking information to other suspects and laundering money, and filed a motion to detain him and hold him incommunicado.
He was released on NT$5 million bail the following day.
The district court said that because prosecutors had collected detailed evidence of Cheng’s alleged involvement in the corruption case, which occurred seven years ago, there was no need to detain him.
While Cheng took a NT$5 million payment that might have been related to a developer’s plans to expand the Hwa Ya Technology Park (華亞科技園區) in Linkou District (林口) in 2017, he returned the money the next year, the district court said.
There was therefore no evidence supporting charges that Cheng concealed illegal proceeds, it said.
However, Cheng’s movements would still be restricted and he was barred from leaving Taiwan, and he was also prohibited from contacting other suspects and witnesses in the case, it said.
The High Court said it revoked the original bail ruling and ordered another bail hearing because of several issues, such as why the district court ignored the possibility that Cheng might collude with other witnesses or tamper with evidence.
The DPP on Monday said it decided during an extraordinary meeting that if Cheng were detained, he would be suspended from the party for three years.
If he was found guilty in a first trial (before an appeal could be filed), there would be further discussion of punishment that could lead to Cheng being expelled from the party.
After serving as Taoyuan mayor for two terms, Cheng was vice premier from January last year to May 20, when he was appointed chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation.
He stepped down from his post on Sunday amid the corruption allegations.
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