Prosecutors seek to extend detention of Ko in corruption scandal

Taipei, Oct. 25 (CNA) Prosecutors filed a motion with the Taipei District Court on Friday to extend the detention of Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) over corruption allegations related to the Core Pacific City redevelopment project when Ko was Taipei mayor.

Prosecutors made the same request for Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲), who was deputy mayor of Taipei in the Ko administration, and issued an arrest warrant for Ko's secretary Hsu Chih-yu (許芷瑜), who left Taiwan for Japan on Aug. 29 and has not returned.

Under Taiwanese law, prosecutors may apply to a court to detain and hold incommunicado a suspect, under certain conditions, for up to two months at a time -- for a maximum of four months in total -- while they continue an investigation.

Pong and Ko have been detained since Sept. 1 and Sept. 5, respectively, over the alleged corruption case, known locally as the "Core Pacific City case."

Prosecutors are still investigating whether Ko and Peng were involved in corrupt real estate dealings that violated the Anti-Corruption Act during Ko's second term as Taipei mayor from 2018 to 2022.

In filing the motion Friday to continue detaining Ko, prosecutors said it was necessary because of the risk of him colluding with accomplices or witnesses based on the investigation so far.

Additionally, Hsu, a key figure in the case whose status was changed from "witness" to "suspected defendant" by prosecutors on Oct. 22, remains overseas despite efforts to persuade her to return to Taiwan to explain the situation, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors added that several people linked to Ko from his time as mayor and other witnesses still need to be questioned, and there were concerns he could influence them despite no longer being in office.

Likewise, prosecutors worry that a release of Pong would "obscure the case and make effective prosecution difficult."

The request was forwarded to the Taipei District Court on Friday morning, prosecutors said, and they simultaneously applied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to revoke and cancel Hsu's passport.

According to the court, the hearings regarding the extensions of detention for Ko and Hong will be handled by the original judges who oversaw their initial detentions and are scheduled for Oct. 28 and Oct. 31, respectively.

Investigations into the alleged corruption involving Ko, Pong and several others in the redevelopment of the Core Pacific City shopping center in downtown Taipei, started amid suspicions about the abnormal increase in floor area ratio (FAR) from 560 percent to 840 percent the city extended to Core Pacific during Ko's tenure as 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. Higher FARs awarded to property developers enables them to make more money because they can build bigger buildings with more space to sell.