Ko arrested after being summoned over corruption scandal, seeks court ruling on legitimacy

Taipei, Aug. 31 (CNA) Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was arrested early Saturday morning after being summoned for questioning by prosecutors over his alleged role in the corruption scandal concerning the Core Pacific City redevelopment project during his tenure as Taipei mayor.

According to Taipei District Prosecutors Office, the arrest came after Ko refused to be questioned at night and attempted to leave the prosecutors' office. The office said prosecutors became worried that he would collude with others involved in the case to make false statements if they allowed him to leave, so they issued an order to arrest him.

The former Taipei mayor, however, on Saturday sought a court ruling on the legitimacy of his arrest. The Taipei District Court turned down his request later in the day.

Cheng Shen-yuan (鄭深元), Ko's lawyer, told journalists that it was very late and Ko was too exhausted to undergo further questioning.

Ko was summoned by the Agency Against Corruption (AAC) Friday and was questioned for about 12 hours before being sent to the Taipei District Prosecutors Office early Saturday for more hours of questioning.

Investigations into the alleged corruption involving Ko and several others in the redevelopment of Core Pacific City in downtown Taipei, started amid suspicion about the significant increase in the floor area ratio (FAR) from 560 percent to 840 percent during Ko's tenure as mayor from 2014-2022.

The FAR refers to the ratio of a building's total floor area to the size of the parcel of land upon which it is built. A higher FAR is expected to help property developers rake in more profit due to expanded property value.

In May, Ko and several others were named suspects in the investigation. Prosecutors also started questioning officials in the Taipei City government, including Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲), who was deputy mayor of Taipei during the Ko administration.

Citing the Code of Criminal Procedure, prosecutors said the arrest order was made after Ko was informed of the needs of the arrest and his rights during questioning.

Prosecutors said if Ko had been allowed to leave the prosecutors' office before they had finished questioning him, risks over whether the investigation would be proceeding smoothly would have increased, which would hinder follow-up probes.

In response, the TPP said in a statement that the party urged the court to look into the legitimacy of Ko's arrest and vowed to support its chairman's legal rights.

According to the TPP, Ko was questioned by the AAC before being sent to the Taipei prosecutors office at around 12:30 a.m. Saturday, and questioning continued into around 2 a.m.

"During the questioning at the prosecutors' office, Ko declined to be questioned at night but prosecutors insisted the session would continue," the TPP said in the statement.

The TPP said as Ko had received investigation for almost 19 hours after taking questions in the AAC and the Taipei District Prosecutors Office, he simply declined to be questioned at night as he felt exhausted.

The arrest of Ko was aimed at restricting his freedom of movement and the court should give him justice, the TPP added.

Ko's wife Chen Pei-chi (陳佩琪) was also summoned on Friday by prosecutors as a witness in the case but Chen was allowed to leave after being questioned.

Before Ko and his wife were summoned, prosecutors launched a raid on the former mayor's home, office and the TPP's headquarters.

Pong, Ko's former deputy, was summoned again on Friday for questioning . Pong was released after being summoned for questioning on Aug. 12 but prohibited from leaving Taiwan.

On early Saturday morning, prosecutors sought to detain Pong, citing his heavy involvement in the corruption case.

Taipei City Councilor Ying Hsiao-wei (應曉薇) of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and business tycoon Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京), the chairman of the Core Pacific Group, which is in charge of the Core Pacific City property development project, were held in detention and incommunicado late Thursday night and early Friday.

Ying's assistant Wu Shun-min (吳順民) is also being held in detention and incommunicado.

According to prosecutors, Sheen allegedly gave Ying more than NT$47.40 million (US$1.48 million) as part of his company's effort to lobby the Taipei City government to raise the FAR.

In February 2020, Sheen, via an introduction by Ying, also visited Pong several times, asking for the FAR to be boosted, prosecutors alleged.

Prosecutors said they were also looking into the flow of additional funds Sheen allegedly gave to Ying.

Besides being former Taipei mayor, Ko was a presidential candidate for his party in the 2024 election, winning more than 25 percent of the votes, an unprecedented achievement by a minor opposition party in Taiwan.

His success in the election is widely seen as changing the nature of politics in Taiwan, which had previously been dominated by two major parties. Ko had said he plans to run for president again in 2028. 

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