A former Taipei Mayor who leads a tiny opposition party has been charged by Taiwanese authorities with misappropriating political funds and collecting T$17.1 million ($522,392) in bribes related to a significant capital real estate development.
Ko Wen-je was charged by prosecutors with helping a conglomerate “illegally benefit” to the tune of billions of Taiwan dollars, and they sought a cumulative sentence of more than 28 years in prison.
Additionally, according to the Taipei District Prosecutors Office, he embezzled tens of millions of dollars in political donations.
Ko was arrested in August after investigators searched his home and party and interrogated him for hours. Ko served as mayor from 2014 to 2022 and finished third in the January presidential race.
Ko has previously denied wrongdoing in the property case, which involves approvals given for a shopping centre project when he was mayor.
The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), which was founded by Ko, told a media briefing the prosecutors failed to offer concrete evidence to support Ko’s bribery charges and said it was a “political prosecution” and called for his release.
Additionally, Ko and several other TPP members were also charged for the misuse of political donations to the party, including embezzling donations of more than T$68 million.
He and the TPP have previously acknowledged that campaign funds during the presidential campaign were misreported.
The TPP said Ko did not embezzle any political donations, which it said was used according to Taiwan laws.
It has been generally anticipated that Ko will run for president once more in the 2028 election.
The scandals have severely damaged support for him and the TPP, which he established in 2019 in an effort to establish a third political party in Taiwan.
Although the TPP only has eight members in Taiwan’s 113-seat parliament, it plays a significant role because neither the Kuomintang, the main opposition party, nor the government Democratic Progressive Party have a majority.
