Court hesitates in Core Pacific City case detention hearing

Taipei, Oct. 23 (CNA) A court said on Wednesday it will decide whether to extend the detention of real estate tycoon Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) before Oct. 30, after prosecutors investigating alleged corruption that has embroiled Taiwan People's Party (TPP) leader Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) requested an extension.

The Taipei District Court was expected to make a ruling as to whether Sheen would continue to be detained for 60 more days at a detention hearing scheduled for 3.30 p.m. on Wednesday.

However, at the conclusion of the hearing -- which lasted for around three hours and 15 minutes -- the court only said that it would issue its decision before the initial 60 day investigation detention period finishes.

Sheen, founder and chairman of the Core Pacific Group, has been held incommunicado in accordance with the law since Aug. 30 after prosecutors convinced the Taipei District Court they have reason to believe he was involved in illegal dealings with high ranking officials in the Taipei City government, including then-mayor Ko, dating back to 2020.

Prosecutors have alleged that Sheen paid bribes of NT$47.40 million (US$1.48 million) as part of his company's effort to illegally lobby the city government to increase the floor area ratio (FAR) of a site formerly occupied by Core Pacific City, a shopping mall in Songshan District, in order to raise the property's financial value.

Earlier in the day, Sheen attended a court hearing along with Kuomintang (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Ying Hsiao-wei (應曉薇), who has also been held incommunicado for allegedly acting as a go-between between Sheen and high-ranking officials including Ko and his then-Deputy Mayor Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲).

Ko, Sheen and Ying have all denied the allegations.

Prosecutors applied to the Taipei District Court on Tuesday to extend Sheen and Ying's respective detentions. They also applied to discontinue the detention and release on bail Ying's assistant, Wu Shun-min (吳順民).

The court said it will convene a detention hearing to decide whether prosecutors may release or continue to detain Ying on Thursday at 10 a.m. and Wu on Friday at 2.30 p.m.

In addition to Sheen, Ying, Wu, Ko and Pong, former Dingyue Development Corp. President Chu Yea-hu (朱亞虎) and Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗), who was director-general of Ko's office in 2015, are also currently being held in investigative detention.

Under Taiwanese law, prosecutors may apply to a court to detain and hold incommunicado a suspect, under certain conditions, for up to two months at a time -- for a maximum of four months in total -- while they continue an investigation.

The alleged corruption case, known locally as the "Core Pacific City Case," has rocked Taiwan's political scene, especially since the TPP leader was detained and held incommunicado on Sept. 5.

TPP lawmakers have accused the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of political persecution of their party's leader, though there is no evidence the government has had any direct involvement in the case.

The TPP -- Taiwan's third-largest party which has significant influence in the legislature -- has not replaced Ko as the party's chairman, even though he has already been held incommunicado by prosecutors for nearly two months.

Next week, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office is expected to submit to the court a formal request to either continue to detain Ko or release him on bail.