The Taipei District Court is set to decide on whether to put the city's former mayor Ko Wen-je back in detention as he await trial on corruption charges, the third bail hearing in his case. Ko is accused of taking bribes while mayor and misusing campaign funds during a presidential run last year.
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00:00We turn now to the latest on former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je's corruption case.
00:05The Taipei District Court is set to discuss his bail again, as prosecutors successfully
00:10appealed to the high court to reconsider his potential as a flight risk a second time.
00:16The move comes a week after Ko's release from four months of being held incommunicado.
00:22Tiffany Wong is following the story from Taipei.
00:26Tiffany, does it look like we're going to see Ko in custody again?
00:32Well, prosecutors certainly want to see former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je back behind bars for
00:39the same reason that they held him incommunicado for four months starting in September.
00:44They say that he could try to collude with others involved in the case.
00:49Now the high court has accepted the prosecutor's appeal and it's now up to the lower court,
00:54the district court, to prove that Ko, while he's on release, will not be able to communicate
01:00with others electronically.
01:03Now since Ko's release last week on the original bail of almost one million U.S. dollars, prosecutors
01:09immediately filed an appeal and they did get that bail raised to two million dollars.
01:14He was able to pay that off, but they said that he will have to wear an ankle monitor
01:19while he's out.
01:20And now, again, the district court is set to discuss whether or not he should be out
01:25and released.
01:27Three other suspects out on bail also had their bail amounts raised earlier this week
01:32and they also have their release at stake today.
01:36That includes real estate developer Shen Ching-ching, Taipei City Councilor Ying Xiaowei, and Ko's
01:42election finance chief Li Yuen-sung, who are all facing a second appeal on the same grounds.
01:49Ko was charged with accepting bribes and misusing political funds, and if found guilty
01:55on all counts, he could receive over 28 years in jail.
02:00Prosecutors are investigating him and several others for their alleged involvement in a
02:05property deal while he was mayor, as well as alleged misuse of campaign funds during
02:11his presidential election run last year.
02:15And five of them, including Ko, were released on bail.
02:19Under the condition that they would not contact each other and would not leave the country.
02:24But it looks like we're going to see a lot of back and forth between prosecutors, the
02:27high court, and the lower court as prosecutors try to make sure that these defendants stay
02:32out of the investigation.