Thu, Sep 12, 2024 page3

• Probe into Core Pacific focuses on money trail

  • By Jason Pan / Staff reporter
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  Taipei prosecutors yesterday questioned Core Pacific Group chairman Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇) again, along with other witnesses, in a widening probe into allegations of corruption against Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲).

  Prosecutors are trying to map out a money trail to determine whether it involved and had directly or indirectly benefited Ko.

  Ko is suspected of receiving kickbacks from Sheen during his tenure as Taipei mayor, with his administration approving in 2022 Sheen’s Core Pacific City redevelopment project.

  

  Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je, left, enters the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday.

  Photo: Tu Chien-rong, Taipei Times

  Company ledgers show that Sheen had allocated a total of NT$430 million (US$13.4 million at the current exchange rate) for the project’s publicity expenses: one for NT$180 million and another for NT$250 million, KMT Taipei City Councilor Chung Hsiao-ping (鍾小平) and his DPP colleague Chien Shu-pei (簡舒培) said.

  Chung said he had received tip-offs that the NT$430 million went to pay lobbyists, politicians, government officials and councilors who lobbied or pushed the project.

  Ko was among those who allegedly received money from the fund, Chung said.

  Sheen allegedly transferred NT$45 million to foundations controlled by Ying, as she had “pressured” city officials to approve a proposal to raise the project’s floor area ratio to 840 percent, which would allow Core Pacific Group to reap more than NT$40 billion in extra financial gains, Chung said.

  Chien said that a USB flash drive seized by investigators at Ko’s residence on Aug. 31 included an entry “Sheen Ching-jing, 1,500 2022/11/1,” which could be interpreted as NT$15 million from Sheen on Nov. 1, 2022.

  That could be the amount of money Ko received a month after the project’s approval, Chien said.

  Another entry around that time showed NT$25 million “from undetermined origins” going to an organization headed by Ko called the Taiwan Public Service Foundation, which could be another conduit for Sheen to pay kickbacks to Ko, Chien said.

  Investigators have also found that Ko and his wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), had received NT$6.19 million in cash from unknown sources, and that Chen had deposited the money through multiple ATM transactions near their residence in Taipei, she said.

  Chien said that the cash deposit transactions were uncovered by Taipei prosecutors, with the money being deposited to the accounts of Ko’s wife and their three children.

  Chien accused the former mayor and his wife of accepting money from business group bosses, either as bribes, kickbacks or possibly for money laundering.

  Ko was listed as a suspect in May when Taipei prosecutors launched its corruption probe, in connection with the Core Pacific City redevelopment project, and other construction and public procurement projects when Ko was mayor.

  Ko has been placed in detention with restricted communication after questioning. Sheen, Ying and two other suspects are also in detention.

  Prosecutors yesterday also questioned two new witnesses — former Taipei deputy mayor Lin Chin-jung (林欽榮), and another city government official. Lin was released without bail in the afternoon.
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