Former Dingyue Development Corp president Chu Yea-hu (朱亞虎) was released on bail yesterday by the Taipei District Court after prosecutors said he confessed amid an investigation into Core Pacific Group and the former Taipei administration.
Chu is among the 22 people listed as defendants in an investigation into alleged corruption involving Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲).
Chu faces charges of bribery and other contraventions of the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) and the Criminal Code.
Photo: CNA
Prosecutors said that in 2021 he played an intermediary role while he was president of Dingyue Development, a subsidiary of Core Pacific Group, which is owned by Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京).
The allegations stem from the alleged conduct of executives of the firms and officials of the Ko administration when he was Taipei mayor over the Core Pacific Living Mall redevelopment project.
Ko has been in detention since Sept. 5 as prosecutors investigate alleged preferential treatment given to Core Pacific Group.
Investigators said that Chu bribed Taipei City Government and other officials to derive financial benefits for his company totaling about NT$40 billion (US$1.23 billion).
Taipei City Councilor Chien Shu-pei (簡舒培) has accused Dingyue of buying plots of land for the mall in 2019 from Core Pacific Group for NT$37.2 billion to start the redevelopment process.
Taipei Urban Planning Commission documents showed that Dingyue and Core Pacific Group representatives in 2021 met with city officials during negotiations over the project, during which the floor area ratio was increased from 392 percent to 560 percent, 720 percent and finally 840 percent, investigators said.
Prosecutors yesterday filed a request to release Chu on NT$2 million (US$61,636) bail, saying that he had confessed and provided testimony. The court approved the request.
Chu acknowledged having received instructions from Sheen to pass on money in exchange for the increased floor area ratios, prosecutors said.
Chu is the only one of the defendants to have confessed so far, they said.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Fast food chain McDonald's is to raise prices by up to NT$5 on some products at its restaurants across Taiwan, starting on Wednesday next week, the company announced today. The prices of all extra value meals and sharing boxes are to increase by NT$5, while breakfast combos and creamy corn soup would go up by NT$3, the company said in a statement. The price of the main items of those meals, if ordered individually, would remain the same. Meanwhile, the price of a medium-sized lemon iced tea and hot cappuccino would rise by NT$3, extra dipping sauces for chicken nuggets would go up
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
RSS