Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
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Photo Credit: Ko Wen-je/Facebook
COURTS AGREED TO extend the detention of former Taipei mayor and TPP head Ko Wen-je for another two months earlier this week. This means that Ko will spend close to four months detained.
Prosecutors raised the possibility of Ko colluding with others to destroy evidence in calling for the extension of the detention. Past instances of this occurring included Ko erasing text messages from his cell phone. Suspicions, too, were raised in the past regarding a cell phone that Ko lost during a trip to the US.
The TPP, however, has lashed out at its party leader continuing to be detained. This has been framed as an abuse of power by the DPP, as a means of manipulating the court system to target political opponents. The TPP has asserted that after many months, courts have failed to turn up anything, and suggested that prosecutors have investigated many individuals unrelated to the case.
It is improbable that prosecutors would seek to detain Ko, who is, after all, a major political figure in Taiwan for so long if they did not have sufficient proof of wrongdoing that they would come up empty. At the same time, it is likely that prosecutors realize there will be a political firestorm once Ko is released. Again, the TPP is likely to reemphasize accusations against prosecutors of acting at the behest of the Tsai administration. With that in mind, prosecutors may want more time to build up the case, particularly with an eye on how the public perceives the case.
To date, news about the case against Ko has gradually trickled out to the media. The TPP has hit out against what it has accused of being leaks to the media in the past. Nevertheless, if there have been leaks, it is possible that this is a means of prosecutors seeking to defend themselves against the TPP.
Photo credit: Ko Wen-je/Facebook
Ko is currently held in connection with corruption allegations regarding the Core Pacific City Mall. Namely, Ko is accused of accepting bribes to increase the floor area ratio of the mall in order to benefit the Core Pacific Group by increasing the floor area ratio of the mall from 392 to 840 percent, allowing the redeveloped site formerly occupied by the Core Pacific City Mall to make more than 40 billion NT per year. Taipei city councilor Angela Ying of the KMT has also been accused of taking bribes, with allegations against Ying that she acted as an intermediary between Ko and the chair of the Core Pacific Group. Ko has faced allegations of lying, in that he initially claimed to have met Core Pacific Group chair Sheen Ching-jing once, but it later emerged that Ko actually met with him three times.
At the same time, the Core Pacific City case is not the only set of corruption allegations against Ko. Ko is also accused of potential corruption regarding two lots in the Shilin Beitou Science Park, to benefit the Shin Kong Group. Ko’s vice presidential candidate in the 2024 presidential elections, Cynthia Wu, belongs to the family that runs the Shin Kong Group. The First Fruit and Vegetable Market in Wanhua is another project that Ko faces allegations of corruption in connection to.
Questions have been raised about funds of unclear origin belonging to the Ko family. This includes Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen, on record as having deposited millions of NT into an ATM in one day after meetings by Ko with Ying and TPP legislator Huang Shan-shan. Chen herself faces allegations of taking out a loan in the name of their son in order to open a coffee shop located in the same building as the TPP’s headquarters. Raising further suspicions, the TPP itself declared no election expenditures in the 2024 presidential race.
Questions still swirl about where Ko obtained the funds to purchase expensive office space near the legislature. Ko was accused of potentially having pocketed election subsidies in order to do so, rather than return such subsidies to the TPP. A foundation founded by Ko is further accused of laundering 27 million NT. Although in the wake of news reports, there were attempts to distance Ko from the foundation, the foundation is registered to the same address as Ko’s offices.
The investigations for these cases proceed separately, though the possibility of these cases being linked has also been raised. In the past, the TPP has hit out against when prosecutors looked into the TPP’s lack of declaring any election expenditures, claiming this was unrelated to the Core Pacific City Mall. Prosecutors suggested that the cases could be linked.