
Former Taipei major Ku Wen-ji has been charged in real estate development and campaign finance scandals.
Taiwan’s former presidential candidate, Kuo Wen-ji, has been accused of accepting bribes and misusing political donations.
Prosecutors charged Ko on Thursday after investigating allegations of corruption in the redevelopment of a shopping mall in Taipei during his term as mayor of the Taiwanese capital and campaign finance violations during his 2024 presidential run.
The Taipei District Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement that it is seeking a 28-and-a-half-year prison sentence for Ko, who is accused of accepting bribes worth NT$17.1 million ($522,392) and embezzling donations worth more than NT$68 million.
Prosecutors also announced charges against several members of Ko’s Taiwan People’s Party over misuse of political donations.
Ko, who served as Taipei mayor from 2014 to 2022, denied any wrongdoing in the real estate development case after his arrest in August, though he admitted misreporting campaign funds.
A Taipei court ruled the following month that Ko, a trainee surgeon, must be released from custody because prosecutors did not meet the standard of a “substantial possibility” that he committed a crime.
Ko, who came in third place in January’s presidential election with 27% of the vote, was widely seen as a contender for the presidency in 2028.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Ko co-founded in 2019, holds eight seats in the 113-member legislature.
The party worked with the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang to pass a series of controversial legal changes that the ruling Democratic Progressive Party says are aimed at restricting President William Lai Ching-te’s ability to rule the island.