As of early Monday morning, the Taipei District Court determined that insufficient evidence was provided to officially detain former Taipei mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and ordered his release without bail. The Taipei District Prosecutors Office has announced its intention to appeal the court’s decision.
Following a raid of their homes and offices and several hours of questioning, prosecutors determined that both Ko and former Taipei Deputy Mayor Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲) had accepted bribes and sought personal profit through resolutions pertaining to the re-development of Core Pacific City, or Living Mall.
The court’s decision to release Ko was based on the fact that he did not take part in the committee or resolution meeting that resulted in the approval of a 20% increase to the floor area ratio (FAR) of Core Pacific City’s project. The Control Yuan has indicated that this increase is illegal though it is unknown whether Ko had the expertise to be aware of the illegality of the resolution.
As for Pong, the court approved the prosecutors’ request for detainment as he managed the project, claimed to be acting lawfully, and otherwise knowingly pushed the resolution through during Urban Planning Commission meetings. They believe Pong to be a major suspect in the case.