TAIPEI (TVBS News) — A Taiwan court sentenced former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) to 17 years in prison on Thursday (March 26) on bribery charges, barring the opposition leader from his planned 2028 presidential bid. The Taipei District Court (台北地方法院) announced the verdict at 2:30 p.m. amid heavy police presence, with dozens of supporters gathered outside. The 66-year-old founder of the Taiwan People's Party (民眾黨), who finished third in Taiwan's 2024 presidential race, was present to hear the ruling.
The sentence, which includes six years of deprivation of civil rights, can be appealed — but under Taiwan's election law, anyone facing a pending sentence of 10 years or more cannot register as a presidential candidate. The court convicted Ko on multiple charges: 13 years for accepting bribes in violation of official duties, two years and three years and six months respectively for two counts of embezzlement, and two years for breach of trust. Prosecutors had sought more than 28 years.
Ko has maintained his innocence throughout the trial, accusing the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (民進黨) of orchestrating political persecution. The charges stem from Ko's second term as Taipei mayor from 2018 to 2022. Prosecutors alleged he received NT$17.1 million (around US$535,000) in bribes from Core Pacific Group (威京集團) Chairman Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) to secure a 20% floor area ratio bonus for the Core Pacific City (京華城) real estate development — a benefit allegedly worth NT$12.1 billion (around US$378.6 million) to the developer.
Key evidence included a hard drive seized from Ko's home containing an Excel file with entries reading "Little Sheen 1500," which prosecutors allege refers to NT$15 million of the total bribes. Ko refused to answer questions about the file 16 times during testimony. He spent 368 days in detention before posting NT$70 million (around US$2.19 million) bail in September 2025 and remains under electronic ankle monitoring. His defense team has not announced whether he will appeal.