Former Taipei Mayor Ke Wenzhe was sentenced to 17 years in the first instance for his involvement in Beijing City and political donation cases. The case was appealed and the second instance was heard by the High Court. The High Court held a hearing this afternoon (9th) and summoned Weiking Group Chairman Shen Qingjing for the first time, as well as Kuomintang Taipei City Councilor Ying Xiaowei and Ying's parliamentary assistant Wu Shunmin. Shen Qingjing today He still denied committing a crime in court, emphasizing that the representations made by Jinghua City Company to the Taipei City Government and Ying Xiaowei were not led by him personally. He also insisted that the charity donations donated to the five associations were personal donations and had nothing to do with the Jinghua City case. He bluntly unacceptable that the first instance found that he actually controlled the relevant companies and was found guilty based on this.
Shen Qingjing was suspected of paying bribes to influence the Beijing Municipal Government's decision-making in order to secure the area benefits of Jinghua City. The first instance found that he knew clearly that Jinghua City did not meet the urban renewal conditions, but still bribed Ke Wenzhe and Ying Xiaowei, and jointly attempted to profit Jinghua City to obtain a 20% area bonus that lacked legal basis. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to profit, deprived of public rights for 5 years, and fined 20 million yuan.
For Ying Xiaowei's part, the first instance found that she used her powers as a council member to convene a coordination meeting, put pressure on the city government, and assisted Jinghua City to strive for volume benefits. She also accepted the 52.5 million yuan delivered by Shen Qingjing through the Huaxia Association and other channels, and also created a breakpoint in cash flow by withdrawing cash and paying card fees. She was sentenced to 15 years in June and deprived of public rights for 6 years for crimes such as violating her duties, accepting bribes, and money laundering.
As for Wu Shunmin, the first instance held that although he served as a consultant to Ying Xiaowei and Weiking Group, he participated in many meetings related to the floor area ratio of Jinghua City, and behaved inappropriately, but the money he received was a consultant's salary, and there was no evidence to prove that he knew that Ying Xiaowei had accepted bribes or was jointly involved in the case. Therefore, he was found not guilty, and the prosecutor refused to accept the appeal.
After the case was appealed, the High Court held a preliminary hearing today. Shen Qingjing stated in court that the 45 million yuan was a "public welfare donation, not a bribe" and all checks were payable to the association, not Ying Xiaowei. He, Ying Xiaowei and related foundations and associations Founder Yu Xuehong and others have been in contact nearly 30 years ago. Since about 1998, they have been invited to give lectures in juvenile detention centers and prisons across the country. Even though the Viking Group was hit by the Asian financial crisis at that time, it continued to invest in rehabilitation protection and public welfare activities.
Shen Qingjing said that he was born in poverty and was a rehabilitated person. He knew how important it was to mentor rehabilitated people and young people who had gone astray. Therefore, he had long supported relevant associations to promote rehabilitation protection, sports and disadvantaged assistance. This was just to fulfill his past commitments to Yu Xuehong and had nothing to do with the Jinghua City floor area ratio case.
As for the 6 million yuan in donations or political contributions from China Engineering Group and 1.5 million yuan from other companies, Shen Qingjing also denied that they were related to him. He emphasized that China National Engineering Group Corporation and Sinopec were independent companies. Holding shares in Jinghua City did not mean that he personally held them. Each donation was made by the company itself. He cannot be presumed to have control just because he is the chairman of the group.
Shen Qingjing said that prosecutors should provide specific evidence for each payment, rather than concluding that he committed bribery in the absence of evidence. The first-instance verdict is really unacceptable and hopes the court will take a clear look.
