The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office and the Agency Against Corruption taskforce yesterday morning requested the Taipei District Court to detain chief financial officer of the Taiwan People’s Party’s presidential campaign Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗) and former Dingyue Development Corp (鼎越開發) president Chu Yea-hu (朱亞虎) for alleged involvement in the Core Pacific City case.
The court held a detention hearing at 6:50pm yesterday, which was ongoing at press time last night.
Prosecutors said they filed a request to detain the two suspects after questioning them on Friday, as they were suspected to be heavily involved in the case and allegedly violated the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例).
Photo: Taipei Times file
The two were among 10 defendants accused of corruption, allegedly giving preferential treatment to Core Pacific City Co during the tenure of then-Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and raising the floor area ratio (FAR) of the redevelopment project in 2020 to boost the value of the property.
Lee was Ko’s high-school classmate, served as his campaign office’s financial manager and was formerly the director-general of the Taipei mayor’s office, the taskforce said.
The taskforce said it suspected Lee was in the know and might have played a pivotal role in the scandal regarding Ko’s unreported political donations from his presidential bid earlier in the year.
Meanwhile, Chu is suspected of being an intermediary between Core Pacific and the Taipei City Government, and allegedly handled the funds used for bribery.
Other defendants include Core Pacific supervisor Chang Chih-cheng (張志澄) and Core Pacific Group legal affairs manager Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源), who have been allowed to post bail for NT$2.5 million (US$78,894) and NT$1.5 million respectively. Former news anchor Tung Chung-pai (童中白), former Core Pacific Rental manager Hung Hsiu-feng (洪秀鳳) and supervisor Fan Ya-chi (范雅琪) have been released without bail.
Witnesses included Ko’s former bodyguard Chen Wen-chung (陳文鐘), Ko’s former itinerary secretary Huang Hsin-hsiang (黃心緗), former secretary Huang Chieh-ying (黃婕穎) and Lin Ting-feng (林鼎峰). They have been released without bail.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the meeting next month, Japanese sources said The holding of a Japan-US leaders’ meeting ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to China is positive news for Taiwan, former Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association representative Hiroyasu Izumi said yesterday. After the Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in Japan’s House of Representatives election, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is scheduled to visit the US next month, where she is to meet with Trump ahead of the US president’s planned visit to China from March 31 to April 2 for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the
‘LIKE-MINDED PARTNER’: Tako van Popta said it would be inappropriate to delay signing the deal with Taiwan because of China, adding he would promote the issue Canadian senators have stressed Taiwan’s importance for international trade and expressed enthusiasm for ensuring the Taiwan-Canada trade cooperation framework agreement is implemented this year. Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) in an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) said he was increasingly uneasy about Ottawa’s delays in signing the agreement, especially as Ottawa has warmed toward Beijing. There are “no negotiations left. Not only [is it] initialed, we have three versions of the text ready: English, French and Mandarin,” Tseng said. “That tells you how close we are to the final signature.” Tseng said that he hoped Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
RSS