Sawt Falasteen - Ex-Taipei mayor detained in corruption probe

Ko Wen-je, leader of the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), ran as a third-party candidate in January's presidential election and won about a quarter of the vote.

But he has in recent weeks been embroiled in a corruption scandal involving a property development that allegedly occurred while he was Taipei's mayor from 2014 to 2022, and was arrested Saturday.

Taipei district court ruled on Monday that prosecutors did not have enough evidence to hold Ko -- a decision they appealed.

And in its new decision Thursday, the court said the suspicion over Ko "committing the crime is serious".

It added that his statements were "inconsistent" with three other alleged accomplices, who have already been detained.

"There are indeed sufficient facts to establish that the defendant is at risk of destroying evidence and colluding with accomplices or witnesses," the court said.

The scandal concerns Core Pacific City, a redevelopment project that saw the floor area ratio substantially increased -- done with the city government's approval which allegedly benefitted developer Sheen Ching-jing.

Ko was aware that the discrepancy "was against the law, but he still insisted on it", the court said in Thursday's statement.

"As a result, the accomplice Sheen obtained illegal benefits of more than NT$20 billion (US$625 million) in the Core Pacific City project."

Ko has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing in that case.

But a separate issue emerged in recent weeks over the misreporting of his campaign funds used during his presidential run.

He apologised to his followers last week over this revelation and said he was taking a three-month personal leave from the party's leadership role.

During January's election, TPP garnered eight seats in Taiwan's fractious parliament, securing it a kingmaker status in the legislature.

W.AbuLaban--SF-PST