The Taipei District Court on Tuesday approved prosecutors’ petitions to extend the detentions of real-estate tycoon Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) and former Taipei deputy mayor Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲) for another 60 days.
Sheen, founder and chairman of the Core Pacific Group (威京集團), and Pong have been detained since Aug. 30 and Sept. 1 respectively over their alleged involvement in a corruption case involving the Core Pacific City (京華城購物中心) redevelopment project, which has embroiled Taiwan People’s Party Chairman and former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲).
In a statement, the district court said it granted the prosecutors’ requests to prevent Sheen and Pong from potentially tampering with evidence or colluding with coconspirators amid the ongoing investigation.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Prosecutors can ask a court to detain and hold incommunicado a suspect under certain conditions during an investigation for up to two months at a time, for a maximum of four months.
Prosecutors have alleged that Sheen paid bribes of NT$47.4 million (US$1.48 million) to Taipei city officials to illegally increase the floor area ratio of a site previously occupied by Core Pacific City, a shopping mall in Songshan District (松山), to raise the property’s financial value.
Sheen has denied the allegation, saying that the money — which was given to Taipei City Councilor Ying Hsiao-wei (應曉薇), who is also being detained as part of the probe — was a charitable donation.
On Tuesday last week, prosecutors petitioned the court to extend Sheen’s detention, saying it needed time to track down witnesses or potential accomplices. On Friday last week, they petitioned to extend Pong’s detention.
Prosecutors are still seeking to determine whether Pong and Ko were involved in the allegations, which occurred during Ko’s second term as Taipei mayor from 2018 to 2022.
Pong’s detention was extended to give prosecutors time to check his statements, which differ greatly from other witnesses and suspects, the district court said.
A court hearing to decide whether Ko’s detention should also be extended for another 60 days was to be held at Taipei District Court this afternoon, but would postponed to tomorrow, after schools and work were suspended due to Typhoon Kong-rey.
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