Arrest of Ko during questioning over scandal probe legal: Court

Taipei, Aug. 31 (CNA) A court affirmed the legality Saturday of the arrest by prosecutors of Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) while being questioned related to an investigation into his role in an alleged corruption scandal concerning the Core Pacific City redevelopment project during his tenure as Taipei mayor.

Rejecting a petition filed by Ko against the arrest order, the Taipei District Court said prosecutors had sufficient reason to arrest him based on the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Ko was arrested early Saturday morning when he declined to be further questioned after a day of questioning and attempted to leave, according to Taipei District Prosecutors Office.

Prosecutors said if Ko had been allowed to leave before they finished questioning him, the risk of the ongoing investigation being undermined would have increased, which could have hindered follow-up probes.

Prosecutors raided Ko's home and office and the TPP headquarters Friday morning and then summoned the former Taipei mayor for questioning about his alleged involvement in an alleged corruption scandal related to the property project in downtown Taipei.

Ko was first questioned by the Agency Against Corruption (AAC) Friday before being sent to the prosecutors office at around 12:30 a.m. Saturday for questioning.

Prosecutors issued the arrest order at around 2 a.m. Saturday after Ko attempted to leave the prosecutors office.

Prior to the issue of the arrest order, prosecutors told Ko to take a break before questioning resumed, but the former Taipei mayor declined. After being arrested, he filed a petition with the court to have the order overturned.

After the court rejected Ko's petition, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office resumed questioning at about 3:10 p.m.

Speaking with reporters, Cheng Shen-yuan (鄭深元), Ko's lawyer, said after being bombarded by questions from the AAC and the Taipei District Prosecutors Office, the TPP chairman was exhausted.

Echoing Cheng, TPP caucus whip Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said Ko had cooperated with prosecutors in the investigation since Friday morning and few people would be able to answer further questions after about 19 hours.

In a separate statement, the TPP expressed regret over the court ruling, noting that the court employed markedly different reasoning from in the past.

The TPP said it fully supports Ko if the party chairman chooses to seek a legal remedy after the ruling.

At a news conference, Huang released a video saying the search of the TPP's headquarters on Friday was illegal as a search warrant obtained by prosecutors only covered Ko's private office not the TPP's headquarters.

In response, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office said the search warrant covered Ko's office and the office filing cabinets he used, so it was legitimate to search the TPP's headquarters since it was necessary for prosecutors to locate property housed in Ko's office and the cabinets he used. However, the TPP informed prosecutors before the search that Ko had no office at the headquarters.

The prosecutors' office said during the search, prosecutors touched only items belonging to Ko.

Investigations into the alleged corruption involving Ko and several others in the redevelopment of the Core Pacific City shopping center, started amid suspicion about the significant increase in the floor area ratio (FAR) from 560 percent to 840 percent in November 2021, 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.

Taipei City Councilor Ying Hsiao-wei (應曉薇) of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and business tycoon Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京), chairman of the Core Pacific Group, which is in charge of the Core Pacific City property redevelopment project, were held incommunicado late Thursday night and early Friday. Ying is accused of receiving more than NT$47.40 million (US$1.49 million) from Sheen to pressure Taipei city government officials to raise the FAR.

Related News

Sept. 3: Taipei official barred from leaving Taiwan in Core Pacific City case

Sept. 2: Ko released, ex-deputy mayor detained in corruption probe

Aug. 31: Ko arrested after being summoned over corruption scandal, seeks court ruling on legitimacy

Aug. 30: Ko's home raided over Core Pacific City scandal; 3 detained

Aug. 29: TPP leader Ko Wen-je announces 3-month leave amid scandals