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.
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