Ko's home raided over Core Pacific City scandal; 3 detained

Taipei, Aug. 30 (CNA) The home of Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was searched by prosecutors Friday morning over his suspected involvement in the corruption scandal concerning the Core Pacific City development project during his tenure as Taipei mayor.

In addition to Ko's home, the TPP party headquarters was also searched.

Taipei City Councilor Ying Hsiao-wei (應曉薇) of the 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 property development project in downtown Taipei, were held in detention and incommunicado late Thursday night and early Friday.

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

Prosecutors launched the search of Ko's residence at around 7:39 a.m. The former Taipei mayor was due to leave home at 8 a.m. but his departure was delayed.

Ko will likely be summoned by prosecutors later in the day for questioning over the property development scandal.

Prosecutors declined to provide details on the searches of Ko's home or the TPP headquarters. However, a news conference has been scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

In response to the raid, the TPP said the party did not know why the search was necessary but pledged to cooperate.

The TPP also urged prosecutors to abide by the law during the investigation.

The search followed orders issued by the Taipei District Court to hold Ying, Sheen and Wu in custody.

The investigation into the development of Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心), started amid suspicion about the significant increase of 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.

Ko, Ying, Sheen, Wu and several others were named as suspects in the case in May.

Earlier this month, Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲), who was deputy mayor of Taipei during the Ko administration, was prohibited by prosecutors from leaving the country and changing his residence after being questioned.

According to prosecutors, the Core Pacific Group was founded to have sent more than NT$40 million (US$1.25 million) to Ying as part of its 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.

On Tuesday, prosecutors arrested Ying, who was said to be preparing to leave Taiwan. On Wednesday, prosecutors summoned Sheen and raided the Core Pacific Group's headquarters and the Taipei City Council before seeking court orders to detain Ying, Sheen, Wu and several others.

The court said there were fears Ying was planning to flee the country.

The court said Ying received an additional NT$45 million from Sheen in November 2022 after the FAR was increased to 840 percent.

The court said prosecutors declared that payment as corrupt, given a higher FAR is likely to help the Corp Pacific Group rake in an additional NT$10 billion in profit.

The court said Ying took advantage of her status as a city councilor to pressure government officials to make a decision to benefit the Corp Pacific Group. It added that her behavior tarnished the reputation of her position.

In addition, the court said Sheen and Wu -- also an adviser to a Core Pacific Group subsidiary -- colluded to make false statements during the investigation, leading to their detention.

Early Thursday morning, prosecutors released Core Pacific Board Chairman Chen Yu-kun (陳玉坤), Ying's office Director Wang Tsun-kan (王尊侃), and Ying's assistant Chen Chia-min (陳佳敏) on bail amounts ranging from NT$2 million to NT$12 million.

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