Former Taipei Mayor Ko 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 is currently being heard by the High Court in the second instance. The High Court held a hearing this afternoon (9th) and summoned Weiking Group Chairman Shen Qingjing for the first time, as well as KMT Taipei City Councilor Ying Xiaowei and Ying's parliamentary assistant Wu Shunmin. All three of them pleaded not guilty today. Regarding the scope of the appeal filed by the prosecutor, Shen Qingjing's lawyer questioned that the prosecutor's appeal went beyond the scope of the original judgment and may involve issues of extra-litigation judgment, and believed that further clarification was necessary.
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 benefit 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.
The High Court opened a preparatory court today. The prosecutor added the scope of Shen Qingjing and Ying Xiaowei's joint crime of profiteering, appealed against Wu Shunmin's innocence, and asked the judge to give the three people a harsher sentence. Ying Xiaowei, Wu Shunmin, and Shen Qingjing all advocated innocence, said that the prosecution's appeal had no grounds, and requested that the prosecution's appeal be dismissed.
Shen Qingjing's defense lawyer Xu Lubing pointed out that the prosecutor's additional claim for joint profit was not within the scope of the original prosecution criminal facts and the first-instance judgment. He questioned that the prosecutor's appeal went beyond the scope of the original judgment and may involve issues of extra-litigation adjudication. Another defense lawyer, Li Yuqing, also questioned why the prosecutor's appeal scope exceeded the criminal facts identified in the original judgment, and believed that further clarification was necessary.
In this regard, the appointed judge Lu Ningli said that she would confirm the specific scope of the appeal with the prosecutor and ask the prosecutor to provide relevant information to clarify the criminal facts involved in the appeal and the scope of the trial.
