Prosecutor probed over misconduct in Core Pacific City case

Taipei, Feb. 4 (CNA) A prosecutor who was involved in the high-profile Core Pacific City development case is under administrative review after a judicial body found procedural misconduct, though the violations were deemed insufficient to warrant a case evaluation that could lead to disciplinary punishment.

Lin Chun-yen (林俊言), currently a chief prosecutor at the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, was accused of misconduct during the questioning of Core Pacific Group Chairman Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京), one of 11 suspects in the case, which also involves former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲).

The 78-year-old business tycoon, while in detention, appealed to the Prosecutors Evaluation Committee in November 2024 through his legal team, seeking a formal evaluation of Lin, whom he accused of breaching professional conduct rules during questioning.

The committee ruled last month that the request for a formal evaluation was not substantiated, but found that Lin had committed "procedural violations," including meeting privately with Sheen without notifying his lawyer.

It decided to refer the matter to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office for "administrative supervision."

Although the ruling was published online recently, the prosecutors office was not asked to respond until Tuesday. It told reporters that it has not yet received the official document and will handle the matter according to established procedures.

What happened?

According to the committee, Lin visited the 78-year-old Sheen when he was hospitalized in October 2024 and held prolonged conversations before formal questioning without audio or video recording.

Lin also met Sheen alone on multiple occasions without notifying defense counsel, including prior to a court hearing.

Sheen further accused Lin of mentioning matters during questioning that later appeared in media reports, raising suspicions that he leaked investigative information.

Moreover, a report published Tuesday by the Chinese-language China Times said Sheen claimed that during his hospital stay, Lin pressured and threatened him, warning that failure to confess would lead banks to cut off financing to his businesses and make bail impossible.

Lin was questioned by the committee about these accusations, and he explained that his hospital visits were conducted in consideration of Sheen's physical condition and the need to safeguard procedural rights, according to the Prosecutors Evaluation Committee.

Lin also said that all the actions fell within the scope of his official discretion and involved no improper pressure or intimidation, while emphasizing no information was leaked to the press during his investigation.

No misconduct but duty failure

After reviewing the relevant evidence, the committee concluded that none of the accusations raised by Sheen were sufficient to establish that Lin engaged in illegal or improper conduct, and therefore rejected the request for a formal case evaluation.

However, the committee noted that in certain procedural actions, Lin failed to fully uphold the duty of "diligent and prudent performance of duties" as stipulated in Article 2 of the Prosecutors' Ethics Code.

These included engaging in a two-hour-long informal conversation with the defendant, unnecessarily referring to case details during a visit, and meeting privately with the defendant prior to an investigation hearing without notifying defense counsel.

The committee said that while Lin's conduct did not rise to the level of warranting disciplinary action or punishment, there is still a need for professional oversight. It therefore referred the case to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office where Lin now serves.

Legal experts said possible measures include an official warning or an order requiring greater caution, which could affect Lin's performance evaluation but would not amount to disciplinary sanctions.

In response to the committee's decision, Sheen criticized the handling of the case as "lenient," saying it reflected a broader institutional failure within the prosecutorial system.

"Any statements obtained through improper interrogation, the exclusion of legal counsel, or through threats or inducements should not be admissible as evidence," he said in a statement.

In the Core Pacific City development project, Ko is accused of receiving bribes from Sheen in exchange for granting a massive, illegal increase in the project's floor-area ratio.

The Taipei District Court is scheduled to deliver its verdict in the case on March 26.