TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan People's Party (TPP, 民眾黨) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was charged with four major offenses on Thursday (Dec. 26), including bribery and misappropriation of political donations, following a probe into the Core Pacific City (京華城) land use case and false political donation reports.
Prosecutors in Taipei (台北) concluded their investigation into Ko's alleged misconduct on Thursday. The Taipei District Prosecutor's Office (台北地檢署) released a 14-page press statement and approximately 40 pages of detailed news material outlining Ko's alleged crimes. Prosecutors have recommended a total sentence of 28.5 years, including 15 years for bribery and 5 years for misappropriating party donations. They accuse Ko of violating his mayoral oath by accepting bribes and seeking illicit financial gains for conglomerates.
TPP caucus whip Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) briefly addressed the media at the Legislative Yuan (立法院) on Thursday morning, stating that there will be an international press event at 2 p.m. at the National Taiwan University Hospital International Convention Center (臺大醫院國際會議中心), condemning what they describe as a politically motivated attack by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP, 民進黨).
In a Facebook post, Huang criticized the prosecutors' actions, claiming they collaborated with pro-DPP media to fabricate various bribery scenarios, from collecting NT$7 million and NT$1.7 million in bribes, virtual currencies, and cold wallets to collecting NT$15 million in bribes in the mayor's office and the groundbreaking ceremony to saying that they had a secret meeting in Singapore two days ago. He alleged these efforts aim to eliminate political opponents.
