Ex-Taiwan presidential candidate indicted on charges of corruption

Taiwan prosecutors on Thursday indicted an ex-mayor of Taipei and former presidential candidate on charges of corruption and misusing political donations and said they were seeking 28 years’ jail for him.

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 been embroiled in a number of scandals in recent months, including a corruption case involving a property development that allegedly occurred during his second term as Taipei’s mayor from 2018 to 2022.

Ko was indicted Thursday in the property case as well as on misusing donations for the TPP and a charity foundation, and breach of trust, the Taipei district prosecutors’ office said.

Prosecutors said they were seeking a combined jail term of 28 years and six months for Ko, who has been detained since September during an investigation.

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

“Ko personally received NT$15 million as bribe money” given by Sheen in 2022 and pocketed another NT$2.1 million from his company, deputy chief prosecutor Kao I-shu told reporters.

Sheen had allegedly obtained illegal benefits of more than NT$20 billion in the Core Pacific City project, a court previously said when ordering Ko’s detention.

“Ko was found with torn-up notes in his office during the investigation, with instructions for accomplices to flee the country,” Kao said.

“His post-offence attitude was also deemed poor.”

Prosecutors also charged Ko with embezzling and co-embezzling more than NT$60 million of political donations made to his party in two cases and misusing around NT$8.27 million in donations for a social welfare foundation for his presidential campaign.

Ko has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing in the property case.

But he has apologised to his followers after allegations of misreporting of his campaign funds used during his presidential run surfaced.

Huang Kuo-chang, a senior TPP official and head of the party’s legislative caucus, lashed out at the indictment, which he described as “politically motivated” and “a political vendetta”.

“The indictment relied on vague wording, accusing Ko of bribery without presenting concrete evidence,” he told reporters.

Huang also insisted “not a single dollar from the political donations account went into Ko Wen-je’s pocket”.

Ko has taken personal leave from the party’s leadership role since September and tendered his resignation as chairman in a letter sent from prison earlier this month.

Asked about the letter at a news conference on Thursday, the TPP said would not elect a new chairman.

During January’s election, the TPP won eight seats in Taiwan’s fractious parliament, securing it kingmaker status in the legislature.