Core Pacific Group chairman Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) said that funds he had given to Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇) were a charitable donation, the Taipei District Court said yesterday, after ruling that the two be detained for alleged corruption related to a property development project.
Sheen denied any wrongdoing in the Core Pacific City (京華城購物中心) — also known as Living Mall — development project in downtown Taipei, and said the more than NT$47 million (US$1.47 million) he gave to Ying was a charitable donation, the court said.
Judging from Sheen’s statement during the hearing, the businessman was well prepared to respond to the investigation, the court said.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The court said that Ying, 59, received the funds from Sheen after she petitioned the Taipei City Government to raise the floor area ratio (FAR) in the project.
After reviewing Sheen’s statements and the evidence provided by prosecutors, the court said it believed Sheen bribed a public official, contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例).
It said the money was a bribe, not a charitable donation.
The court ruled that Sheen and Ying be detained and held incommunicado on Thursday night and early yesterday morning respectively over their suspected roles in the Core Pacific City development project during Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) tenure as Taipei mayor between 2014 and 2022.
Ying’s assistant Wu Shun-min (吳順民) was also detained and held incommunicado.
Prosecutors launched a raid on Ko’s home and the TPP’s headquarters yesterday morning.
The former mayor was later summoned for questioning.
Earlier this month, Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲), who was deputy Taipei mayor during the Ko administration, was prohibited from leaving the country and changing his residence after being questioned by prosecutors.
The investigation into the development of Core Pacific City began amid suspicion regarding the significant increase of the FAR from 560 percent to 840 percent during Ko’s mayorship.
The FAR refers to the ratio of a building’s total floor area to the size of the parcel of land upon which it is built.
Ko, Ying, Sheen, Wu and several others were named as suspects in the case in May.
The court also said that the decision to detain Sheen was made by taking into account the possibility that he would collude with Ying and others.
The FAR increase in the Core Pacific City deal was likely to boost Core Pacific Group’s profits by about NT$10 billion, the court said.
There were also fears that Sheen would flee after prosecutors prohibited him from leaving his home on Wednesday. He had been informed that raids on his home and the Core Pacific Group’s headquarters would be carried out, the court said.
As for Ying, a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member, the court said it feared she would flee after she was arrested on Tuesday.
Ying repeatedly lobbied the Taipei City Government to raise the FAR in the Core Pacific City project, the court said.
In February 2020, Sheen, via an introduction by Ying, also visited Peng several times, asking for the FAR to be boosted, the court said.
Asked about Ying’s detention, the KMT said that the party’s disciplinary committee would hold a meeting to decide whether punishment would be meted out.
Meanwhile, the TPP said the party did not know if the search was necessary, but pledged to cooperate.
The party also urged prosecutors to abide by the law.
Early on Thursday morning, prosecutors released Core Pacific board chairman Chen Yu-kun (陳玉坤), Ying’s office director Wang Tsun-kan (王尊侃) and Ying’s assistant Chen Chia-min (陳佳敏) on bail ranging from NT$2 million to NT$12 million.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as