2 more suspects held incommunicado in Core Pacific City probe

Taipei, Sept. 29 (CNA) Two more suspects allegedly embroiled in the high-profile Core Pacific City corruption case were ordered by Taipei District Court on Saturday to be detained and held incommunicado, according to the court's ruling.

Former Dingyue Development Corp. President Chu Yea-hu (朱亞虎) and Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗), director-general of former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je's (柯文哲) office in 2015, were ordered detained and held incommunicado for their alleged links to the case after being questioned late Friday and early Saturday.

Prosecutors believed Chu acted as a middle man on behalf of Core Pacific Group Chairman Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) in lobbying city officials to raise the floor area ratio of the Core Pacific City development project in 2020.

A higher floor area ratio meant Core Pacific could build bigger structures on the allotted land than would have normally been allowed, paving the way for Core Pacific to make more money on the project than anticipated.

According to the Taipei District Court's ruling to detain Chu, he admitted to violating the Anti-Corruption Act by bribing Taipei City officials to get their support for preferential treatment related to the development plan.

It said Chu needed to be detained because his family lived and owned real estate abroad, making him a serious flight risk.

There were also still several details related to the allegations that prosecutors had to investigate and clear up, and before those details become clear, Chu also had to be detained to prevent him from colluding with others in covering up such evidence, the court said.

As for Lee, the court ordered him to be detained on suspicion of engaging in breach of trust by taking bribes, though he denied the allegations against him while he was being questioned, court records showed.

Chu and Lee's detentions came after Taipei prosecutors and Agency Against Corruption officers launched a second wave of searches on 29 locations on Sept. 27.

After the raids, 10 suspects, including Chu and Lee, and six people listed as witnesses, including Ko's former bodyguard Chen Wen-chung (陳文鐘) and Ko's former secretaries Huang Hsin-hsiang (黃心緗) and Huang Chieh-ying (黃婕穎), were interrogated.

Two suspects, Core Pacific supervisor Chang Chih-cheng (張志澄) and Core Pacific Group legal affairs manager Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源), were released on NT$2.5 million (US$78,130) and NT$1.5 million bail, respectively, following the questioning.

Other suspects, Former TV news presenter Tung Chung-pai (童中白), former Core Pacific Rental Manager Hung Hsiu-feng (洪秀鳳), and supervisors Fan Ya-chi (范雅琪), Chen Hsiu-tao (陳秀桃), and Liu Chih-an (劉芷安) and an accountant, were all released without bail.

With the detentions of Chu and Lee, seven suspects are now being held since prosecutors launched the investigation in May.

The others are Ko, who doubles as chairman of the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), Core Pacific Group Chairman Sheen, former Taipei Deputy Mayor Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲), Kuomintang (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Ying Hsiao-wei (應曉薇), and Ying's assistant Wu Shun-min (吳順民).