The High Court on Friday rejected an appeal from former vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) against a ruling by the Taoyuan District Court ordering his detention and that he be held incommunicado over corruption allegations, confirming Cheng’s detention would be two months.
Although Cheng denies the charge of accepting bribes in contravention of the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), there is clear evidence substantiating serious suspicion regarding his guilt, the High Court said.
The court also said that as Cheng is suspected of involvement in a major corruption case, there is a strong possibility that he could flee and collude with witnesses.
Photo: Yu Jui-jen, Taipei Times
That Cheng sent messages related to his defense to his secretary before prosecutors questioned him indicates there is a substantial risk of him colluding with accomplices and witnesses, it added.
Given Cheng’s extensive political and business connections as well as his relationships with civil servants involved in the case, the risk of him colluding is clearly difficult to prevent through less restrictive measures such as bail, supervision or residence restrictions, the High Court said.
The High Court said it was appropriate that the Taoyuan District Court found it necessary to detain Cheng.
Cheng’s appeal against detention is unreasonable and has thus been rejected, it said, adding that the decision is final and cannot be appealed again.
The case came to light on Friday last week, when Cheng was summoned by the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office as part of an investigation into alleged corruption involving a land zoning deal while he was mayor of Taoyuan.
After questioning him, prosecutors said that they suspected Cheng of having accepted a bribe, leaking information to other suspects in the case and laundering money.
The prosecutors filed a motion to detain and hold him incommunicado.
However, the district court granted him bail of NT$5 million (US$153,558) on Saturday last week. After an appeal by prosecutors, the High Court sent the case back to the lower court for reconsideration on Monday, but Cheng was granted bail again of NT$12 million.
After another appeal by prosecutors, the case was sent back for review by the district court for a second time, and this time Cheng was ordered to be detained on Thursday.
After serving as Taoyuan mayor, Cheng became vice premier in January last year and stayed in the post until May 20, when he was appointed chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation.
He stepped down from his foundation post on Sunday.
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