Prosecutors want former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je arrested again as a corruption scandal brews. Ko says he knew nothing about the land deal at the center of the controversy, but not everyone is convinced.
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00:00Just a day after former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je was released without bail, prosecutors are trying to have him arrested again.
00:06They believe Ko was involved in a deal that helped the owners of a shopping mall make big profits by drastically expanding their floor area.
00:13Ko says he knew nothing about the details of the deal.
00:16Ko and members of the party he went on to found, the Taiwan People's Party, have also attacked the investigation.
00:22They say inspectors are looking for any dirt they can find, even if it's not related to the shopping mall scandal.
00:28And they believe their main political rival, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, is to blame.
00:44But there are those who doubt Ko's innocence. Some of his Democratic Progressive Party rivals are chief among them.
00:59But doubt is also coming from the main opposition party, the Kuomintang, which has generally allied with Ko's Taiwan People's Party in the legislature.
01:16Other political factions may have something to gain by sowing doubt about a rival.
01:20But a former member of Taipei's Urban Planning Commission has also shared their suspicions.
01:25In a Facebook post, professor of architecture Zheng Guangzhong says that he opposed the expansion of floor space on legal grounds, and that others raised problems with the plan, too.
01:34He says politicians cannot evade responsibility by saying they didn't know what happened on their watch.
01:40After a day of relative quiet, the scandal looks like it might start up again.
01:44Even if he remains a free man, Ko and Zhe has not yet managed to shake the scrutiny and suspicion off.
01:50Devin Cai and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.
01:55For more UN videos visit www.un.org