Former Dingyue Development Corp president Chu Yea-hu (朱亞虎) was released on bail yesterday by the Taipei District Court after prosecutors said he confessed amid an investigation into Core Pacific Group and the former Taipei administration.
Chu is among the 22 people listed as defendants in an investigation into alleged corruption involving Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲).
Chu faces charges of bribery and other contraventions of the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) and the Criminal Code.
Photo: CNA
Prosecutors said that in 2021 he played an intermediary role while he was president of Dingyue Development, a subsidiary of Core Pacific Group, which is owned by Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京).
The allegations stem from the alleged conduct of executives of the firms and officials of the Ko administration when he was Taipei mayor over the Core Pacific Living Mall redevelopment project.
Ko has been in detention since Sept. 5 as prosecutors investigate alleged preferential treatment given to Core Pacific Group.
Investigators said that Chu bribed Taipei City Government and other officials to derive financial benefits for his company totaling about NT$40 billion (US$1.23 billion).
Taipei City Councilor Chien Shu-pei (簡舒培) has accused Dingyue of buying plots of land for the mall in 2019 from Core Pacific Group for NT$37.2 billion to start the redevelopment process.
Taipei Urban Planning Commission documents showed that Dingyue and Core Pacific Group representatives in 2021 met with city officials during negotiations over the project, during which the floor area ratio was increased from 392 percent to 560 percent, 720 percent and finally 840 percent, investigators said.
Prosecutors yesterday filed a request to release Chu on NT$2 million (US$61,636) bail, saying that he had confessed and provided testimony. The court approved the request.
Chu acknowledged having received instructions from Sheen to pass on money in exchange for the increased floor area ratios, prosecutors said.
Chu is the only one of the defendants to have confessed so far, they said.
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