Q&A/What is Core Pacific Case, how is TPP Chairman Ko involved?

Taipei, Nov. 1 (CNA) The high-profile detention of former Taipei mayor and incumbent Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was extended for another two months on Friday, as prosecutors continue their investigation into alleged corruption known locally as the "Core Pacific City case."

What exactly is the Core Pacific City case? How is Taiwan's former mayor allegedly involved? And why does the investigation matter to Taiwanese society?

This explainer will look at why this anti-corruption investigation has rocked Taiwan's political scene in recent months and what might happen if Ko's detention is extended.

Q1: What is the Core Pacific City case?

The Taipei District Prosecutors Office launched an investigation in April 2024 into suspected corruption relating to real estate dealings in Taiwan's capital city dating back to Ko's second term as mayor between 2018 and 2022.

Prosecutors allege that Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京), founder and chairman of real estate conglomerate Core Pacific Group, paid bribes of NT$47.40 million (US$1.48 million) as part of his company's efforts to 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, to raise the property's financial value.

The FAR refers to the amount of floor space a developer can build on a given plot of land.

Prosecutor Lin Chun-yen (林俊言) is in charge of the investigation that has so far seen large-scale raids and arrests of high-ranking politicians. The Taipei prosecutors' investigation has also been supported by the Agency Against Corruption, a national anti-corruption agency under the Ministry of Justice.

Q2: Who is currently being held in investigative detention?

Six suspects -- including the former mayor, former deputy mayor and an incumbent city councilor -- have been detained in relation to the case.

Under Taiwanese law, prosecutors may apply to a court to detain and hold a suspect incommunicado for up to two months while they continue an investigation. A detention can be extended for another two months if prosecutors find it is necessary and secure the court's approval.

As the highest-ranking official in the city government at the time, Ko's detention has garnered the most attention. The Taipei District Court concluded on Sept. 5 that Ko "clearly knew" raising the FAR of the Core Pacific City site was illegal, yet he "insisted" it happen.

Consequently, the court ordered that the former mayor be held in investigative detention for two months.

Ko's top subordinate in the city government, former Taipei Deputy Mayor Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲), was detained on Sept. 1 for two months, and his detention was extended for an additional two months on Oct. 29.

Taipei City Councilor Ying Hsiao-wei (應曉薇) from the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) has also been formally detained since Aug. 30. Her initial 60-day investigation detention period was extended on Oct. 28.

Prosecutors believe Ying acted as a go-between between the Core Pacific Group and city officials in passing on bribes. She was initially arrested at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Aug. 27 after prosecutors believed she intended to flee the country.

Like Ying, real estate tycoon Sheen, 77, has been held in investigative detention since Aug. 30, and his detention was extended for another two months on Oct. 28. He has denied any wrongdoing and claimed that the more than NT$47 million he gave to Ying was a charitable donation.

Wu Shun-min (吳順民), Ying's assistant, was released on NT$5 million bail on Oct. 25 after being held in detention and incommunicado since August.

Meanwhile, Chu Yea-hu (朱亞虎), the former president of Dingyue Development Corp., reported to be Sheen's close associate, and Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗), director-general of Ko's office as mayor in 2015, are still being held in investigative detention concerning the case.

Chu was accused of having acted as a "white glove" intermediary to smooth the process of prompting the FAR of the Core Pacific City redevelopment project to be raised.

Q3: Is anyone else involved?

More than half a dozen other suspects have been released on bail, including employees of the Core Pacific Group. These include Core Pacific Board Chairman Chen Yu-kun (陳玉坤), Ying office Director Wang Tsun-kan (王尊侃), Ying assistant Chen Chia-min (陳佳敏), Core Pacific supervisor Chang Chih-cheng (張志澄), Core Pacific Group legal affairs manager Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源), and former head of Taipei's urban development department Huang Ching-mao (黃景茂).

Shao Hsiu-pei (邵琇珮), executive secretary at the city government's Urban Planning Commission, has also been barred from leaving the country.

Q4: Why is the Core Pacific City case significant?

While investigations into alleged corruption by Taiwanese officials are not uncommon, Ko's detention has been controversial.

Ko is currently the leader of the TPP, Taiwan's third-largest party, which has a significant influence in the Legislature due to neither the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) nor the KMT commanding a majority of seats.

Ko's party has held sway in the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan's top lawmaking body, since February. It has often sided with the KMT to pass legislation -- most controversially a bill extending the legislature's oversight powers that the Constitutional Court ruled largely "unconstitutional" on Oct. 28.

The TPP, which was established by Ko in 2016, has not replaced Ko as the party's chairman, even though he has already been held incommunicado by prosecutors for nearly two months.

TPP lawmakers -- especially Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), whose influence has grown in the party due to Ko's absence -- have accused the DPP of "political persecution" of their party's leader, though there is no evidence the government has had any direct involvement in the case.