Prosecutors seek to extend detention of ex-Taipei mayor's aide

Taipei, Nov. 22 (CNA) The Taipei District Prosecutors Office on Friday filed a motion to extend the detention of a top aide of former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who himself remains detained in a corruption investigation involving a redevelopment project.

The prosecutors office said Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗) should be detained for another two months as the investigation into bribery allegations continued.

Extending the detention was necessary because the corruption charges laid against Lee are felonies that carry a minimum prison sentence of five years, and because he is a flight risk, the office said in a statement.

Lee became the head of the Taipei mayor's office in May 2018 during Ko's first four-year term. He has been detained since Sept. 29.

The Taipei District Court will review the prosecutors' motion next Tuesday.

If the motion is approved, Lee will be detained for another two months as an anti-corruption investigation into the Core Pacific Group redevelopment project continues.

In addition, the court will also decide on Tuesday whether to restrict Lee's and his legal team's access to documents prosecutors compiled to build their case.

The prosecutors launched an investigation in April into suspected real estate dealings surrounding the redevelopment project in Taipei, which dated back to Ko's second term as mayor between 2018 and 2022.

Prosecutors allege that Core Pacific Group Chairman Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) paid bribes as part of his company's efforts to lobby the city government to increase the floor area ratio of the redevelopment project, to raise the property's financial value.

Sheen and Taipei City Councilor Ying Hsiao-wei (應曉薇) were among the first people brought in by investigators for questioning in the case and subsequently detained in late August.

Ko and former Taipei Deputy Mayor Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲) were detained a few days later.

All four people are being held incommunicado and their detentions have been extended between late October and early November.

Also on Friday, the court granted the prosecutors' motion to release former Core Pacific Development Co. chairperson Chu Yea-hu (朱亞虎) on bail, which was set at NT$2 million (US$61,409), because he has provided investigators with enough information after he was detained and held incommunicado on Sept. 29.

Court documents on the decision to detain Chu showed that Chu had confessed that Sheen had instructed him and six other Core Pacific Group executives to each transfer NT$300,000 to a Taiwan People's Party (TPP) bank account designated for "political donations."

The money was considered by the prosecutors as part of the bribe paid to Ko on behalf of Sheen over the city government's review of the redevelopment project.

Core Pacific Plaza, the redevelopment project at the center of the corruption case, is run by Core Pacific Development Co., formerly called Dingyue Development Co. The company secured loans and began construction in October 2022 to build office buildings on the former site of the Core Pacific City shopping center in Taipei's Songshan District.

Ko took office as Taipei mayor on Dec. 25, 2014 and served two four-year terms. The physician-turned-politician founded the TPP in 2019 and unsuccessfully ran for president in the 2024 elections in January.