Sheen labels funds to city councilor 'donation,' court says otherwise

Taipei, Aug. 30 (CNA) Core Pacific Group Chairman Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) argued that the funds received by Taipei City Councilor Ying Hsiao-wei (應曉薇) were a charitable donation, the Taipei District Court said Friday, after ruling the two be detained for alleged corruption related to a property development project.

According to the court, Sheen denied any wrongdoing in the Core Pacific City (京華城購物中心) -- also known as Living Mall -- development project in downtown Taipei, and claimed the more than NT$47 million (US$1.48 million) he gave to Ying was a charitable donation.

Judging from Sheen's statement during the hearing, the court said, the business tycoon was well prepared to respond to the investigation by prosecutors.

The court noted that Ying, 59, received the funds from Sheen after she logged petitions to the Taipei City government, asking for the floor area ratio (FAR) in the project to be raised.

After reviewing Sheen's statements and the evidence provided by prosecutors, the court said it believed Sheen violated the Anti-Corruption Act by bribing a public official. It stated the money was a bribe, not a charitable donation.

Sheen and Ying were ruled be held in detention and incommunicado on Thursday night and early Friday morning respectively over their suspected roles in the Core Pacific City development project during Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je's (柯文哲) tenure as Taipei mayor between 2014 and 2022.

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

Prosecutors also launched a raid on Ko's home and the TPP's headquarters Friday morning. The former mayor was later summoned for questions.

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.

The investigation into the development of Core Pacific City started amid suspicion of the significant increase of the FAR from 560 percent to 840 percent during Ko's term as Taipei mayor.

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.

On Friday, the court also said that the decision to detain Sheen was made by taking into account the possibility that he would collude with Ying and others.

According to the court, the FAR increase in the Core Pacific City deal was likely to boost Core Pacific Group's profits by about NT$10 billion.

In addition, the court said there were fears that Sheen would flee after prosecutors blocked him from leaving home on Wednesday. He had been informed raids on his home and the Core Pacific Group's headquarters would be carried out.

As for Ying, a member of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), the court said it feared she would flee after she was arrested on Tuesday preparing to leave Taiwan.

According to the court, Ying repeatedly lobbied the Taipei City government to raise the FAR in the Core Pacific City project. In February 2020, Sheen, via an introduction by Ying, also visited Peng several times, asking for the FAR to be boosted.

In response to Ying's detention, the KMT said that the party's disciplinary committee will hold a meeting to decide whether punishment should be imposed.

Meanwhile, the TPP said the party did not know why the search was necessary but pledged to cooperate. The party also urged prosecutors to abide by the law during the investigation.

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.