Ex-deputy mayor retracts confession after wife dies, claims innocence

Taipei, July 1 (CNA) Former Deputy Taipei Mayor Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲) on Tuesday asserted his innocence in the Core Pacific City corruption case hours after the death of his wife in Kaohsiung, despite having confessed during a 2024 interrogation.

Hearing the news of his wife's passing as he was waiting for a court session at the Taipei District Court, Pong broke out in tears, asserted his innocence and said he had considered taking his own life while being detained to prove his innocence.

Claiming his innocence, Pong cried out in anguish: "Why was I born in this country?" and "Have the prosecutors lost their conscience?"

The court initially wanted to send Pong to a hospital for treatment, but decided instead that he be taken home, accompanied by his younger brother.

The Kaohsiung City Fire Bureau said it received a report at 9:01 a.m. of a person falling from a building. Responding firefighters found a 72-year-old woman, surnamed Hsieh (謝), lying on the ground with multiple fractures and no signs of life.

The woman was identified as Pong's wife.

The Taipei District Court had originally scheduled to review Pong's interrogation recording that morning but canceled the session due to the sudden news of his wife's death.

In response to the news of Pong's wife's passing, the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) -- of which Pong is a member -- the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) caucus, and ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Wu Szu-yao (吳思瑤) all expressed their condolences.

Pong was indicted in December 2024, along with former Taipei Mayor and former TPP Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Core Pacific Group Chairman Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京), in a corruption case.

The officials are accused of accepting bribes from the company to illegally increase the permissible floor area ratio of a redevelopment project, thereby raising the property's value because more space could be built and sold.