Before reading this article, understand first: the latest developments in the Ke Wenzhe case
On December 26, 2024, the Taipei District Prosecutor's Office prosecuted People's Party Chairman Ke Wenzhe and others in connection with the Jinghua City case and the political donation case. Ke Wenzhe denied all charges. At 2:30 a.m. on December 27, the Taipei District Court’s Major Financial Crimes Tribunal ruled that Ke Wenzhe should be released on bail of NT$30 million, with restrictions on leaving the country, overseas, and residence. He was released on bail and returned home around noon that day.
Key highlights of Ke Wenzhe's North Prosecution Indictment
Ko Wenzhe was involved in the Beijing City scandal and was detained on suspicion of bribery, public welfare embezzlement and other crimes. In the past few months, he has become one of the biggest topics in Taiwanese politics. The Taipei District Prosecutor’s Office announced the indictment on December 16:
Press release of the indictment
Full text of the indictment (190 pages)
This indictment has sparked heated discussions about the evidence found by the prosecution, whether the USB cold wallet and bitcoins mentioned by some commentators and media are real, and how the specific sentencing will be. (Crypto City) has compiled the following for everyone:
To conclude: the indictment against Ko Wenzhe did not mention cold wallets or bitcoins.
The Taipei District Prosecutor's Office did not directly mention terms such as 'virtual currency', 'cold wallet', 'cryptocurrency', 'Tether' in the indictment against Ko Wenzhe and related press releases.
However, some Taiwanese media and commentators have repeatedly discussed the relationship between Ko Wenzhe and these terms, particularly regarding rumors that his USB or external drive may hold 1,500 bitcoins. These claims lack substantial evidence support and have not been mentioned in the prosecution's official documents.
The folder structure of this USB has also been clearly listed in the indictment, and someone on social media used Pastebin tools to organize the folder structure (click me).
Source of the image: Pastebin. The indictment against Ko Wenzhe did not mention cold wallets, bitcoins, or virtual currency terms. The folder structure of Ko Wenzhe's USB is shown in the image.
Related news:
Is Ko Wenzhe's USB a cold wallet? Commentator: Quickly search to see if there are hidden coins.
Is Ko Wenzhe's 1,500 bitcoins? Commentator again shouts, 'PPT is also virtual currency.'
Ko Wenzhe's Jinghua City Case Key Points
1. Illegal volume reward case for Jinghua City land
Ko Wenzhe and others are suspected of illegally increasing the construction volume reward for Jinghua City Company by up to 20% using public authority, benefiting Dingyue Company by over 12.1 billion, and involving charges of bribery, collusion, and money laundering under the Anti-Corruption Act.
2. Misappropriation of political donation public welfare case
Ko Wenzhe and others are suspected of misappropriating political donations and packaging them as business activities, failing to deposit donations into the political donation special account as required.
3. Breach of trust case for misappropriating Zhongwang Foundation funds
Ko Wenzhe and others are suspected of misappropriating donations from the Zhongwang Foundation for campaign and party personnel expenses, violating the foundation's social welfare purpose.
4. False declaration of political donation special accounts case
Ko Wenzhe and others are suspected of providing false accounting documents and issuing false audit reports, listing false transactions that affected the audit by the Audit Office.
Summary of main evidence listed by the prosecution
Easy-to-read graphic version
Source of the image: Crypto City Mapping Ko Wenzhe Jinghua City Case: Main evidence listed by the prosecution
Source of the image: Crypto City Mapping Ko Wenzhe Jinghua City Case: Main evidence listed by the prosecution
Source of the image: Crypto City Mapping Ko Wenzhe Jinghua City Case: Main evidence listed by the prosecution
Text table version
Main evidence listed by the prosecution in the Ko Wenzhe Jinghua City case: documents related to the Jinghua City case, urban planning changes, records of Urban Planning Committee/Urban Examination Committee meetings, official document signatures, records of decisions from the Taipei City Government Urban Development Bureau, records questioning the illegality of grassroots civil servants and committee members, financial documents from Dingyue Company and Weijing Group, evidence of bribery and cash flow, evidence of cash payments (surveillance records, remittance records of dummy accounts, EXCEL data), LINE messages, text messages, call records, and relevant information, withdrawal records from secretaries, certificates of account transactions from foundations, remittance receipts, evidence of political donations misappropriation, comparison of cash flows between the People's Party political donation special account and Muko Company account, records of fundraising items and concert income transferred to Muko Company account, false invoices (Muko Company's unified invoices issued to Caifeng Company), relevant accounts and the false audit report issued by Duan Mu Zheng after the audit bureau returned the declaration for correction, evidence of breach of trust by the Zhongwang Foundation, regulations on the use of donations in the Zhongwang Foundation, actual salary records for campaign personnel, employee job descriptions compared with campaign and party activities, other communication information, discussions among defendants about deleting data, collusion, and plans to leave the country, etc. Court-approved asset seizure records include the land and real estate of Dingyue Company in Jinghua City, Muko Company accounts, etc., to preserve the proceeds of crime.
Overview of the details of evidence presented by the prosecution in the Ko Wenzhe case.
'Bento meeting' and other administrative instructions and official documents.
The prosecution pointed out that Ko Wenzhe repeatedly instructed subordinates to expedite the Jinghua City 20% volume reward case during the 'City Government Bento Meeting'. Relevant meeting records, official document signatures, and the urban planning change process all show suspicions of legal violations but continued to be promoted.
2.1 million bribe: donations from 7 dummy accounts.
The prosecution determined that on March 10, 2020, after the 'bento meeting', Ko Wenzhe issued favorable instructions regarding the Jinghua City case. Subsequently, Shen Qingjing instructed seven dummy accounts from Weijing Group through Zhang Ozheng and Zhu Ohu to each transfer 300,000 (totaling 2.1 million) to the People's Party political donation special account. The actual source of the funds and the identities of the donors do not match, and after a cash flow audit, the prosecution presumed this amount to be bribery.
Cash bribes of 15 million: EXCEL records.
The prosecution discovered an EXCEL file stored in Ko Wenzhe's external hard drive, marked with keywords such as '2022/11/1', 'Little Shen', '1500', 'Manager Shen Qingjing', believing that the record was used to note the receipt of 15 million cash bribes from Shen Qingjing, coinciding with the time of the groundbreaking ceremony.
Source of the image: Indictment of Ko Wenzhe. The prosecution discovered an EXCEL file stored in Ko Wenzhe's external hard drive.
'Shredding notes' and involvement in witness tampering
During a search at Ko Wenzhe's office, the prosecution discovered shredded notes, which allegedly contained instructions for accomplices to leave the country and check Muko's internal accounts, leading the prosecution to suspect that Ko Wenzhe attempted to tamper with evidence.
Misappropriation of political donations: Cash flow of Muko Company
The prosecution discovered multiple donations that should belong to political donations, which were not processed through the political donation special account but flowed into personal use through Muko Company accounts or as 'portrait rights authorization fees', 'fundraising concert profits', etc. Additionally, concert revenue, fundraising item income, etc., were transferred to Muko Company through third-party payments, and did not actually enter the party's account.
Breach of trust by Zhongwang Foundation: Employee salary payments
The prosecution accused Ko Wenzhe and Li Ozhong of jointly misappropriating 8.27 million of foundation funds, which were actually used for campaign and party personnel salaries, clearly inconsistent with the foundation's social welfare purpose.
Confessions of accomplices and witnesses, communication data
During the process of questioning, searching, and seizing electronic messages, relevant LINE messages, text messages, and call records were seized, corroborating that Ko Wenzhe had instructed or allowed others to assist in handling bribes, political donations, and foundation funds, and that some accomplices' confessions and witness statements were also unfavorable to Ko Wenzhe.
Overview of the crimes and sentencing requests of key figures involved in the Ko Wenzhe case
Easy-to-read graphic version
Source of the image: Crypto City Mapping Ko Wenzhe Jinghua City Case: Main evidence listed by the prosecution
Source of the image: Crypto City Mapping Ko Wenzhe Jinghua City Case: Main evidence listed by the prosecution
Source of the image: Crypto City Mapping Ko Wenzhe Jinghua City Case: Main evidence listed by the prosecution
Source of the image: Crypto City Mapping Ko Wenzhe Jinghua City Case: Main evidence listed by the prosecution
Text table version
Summary of recommended sentencing/fines for key figures involved: Ko Wenzhe received bribes, public welfare misappropriation, misappropriation of political donations, breach of trust with a prison sentence of 28 years and 6 months.
Deprivation of civil rights for 10 years
Fine of 50 million; Li Wenzong received bribes, public welfare misappropriation, breach of trust.
Prison sentence of 17 years and 4 months
Deprivation of civil rights for 5 years
Fine of 10 million
Shen Qingjing committed the crime of profiteering and bribery.
Prison sentence of 17 years
Fine of 33 million
Deprivation of civil rights for 11 years
Ying Xiaowei charged with bribery and money laundering
Prison sentence of 16 years and 6 months
Fine of 50 million
Peng Zhensheng supervised and profited from affairs, requesting a sentence reduction, with a prison sentence of 3 years + deprivation of civil rights for 3 years; Huang Jingmao supervised and profited from affairs.
Prison sentence of 7 years
Fine of 10 million
Deprivation of civil rights for 5 years
Shao Xiupai supervised and profited from affairs.
Recommendation to reduce to a prison sentence of 1 year and 3 months.
Announced a 2-year probation.
Wu Shunmin received bribes in violation of duty without specific sentencing indicated; Zhang Zhicheng committed bribery in violation of duty without specific sentencing indicated; Duan Mu Zheng committed false documentation in business with a prison sentence of 1 year; Zhu Ohu committed bribery in violation of duty.
Deferred prosecution for 2 years
Payment to the public treasury of 3.3 million.
Chen Oyu committed bribery in violation of duty
Deferred prosecution for 2 years
Payment to the public treasury of 1.2 million.
Those not prosecuted: Chen Okun, Wang Okai, Chen Omin, Li Ojuan (not prosecuted for some charges), He Oting, Chen Ohsuan, and others for insufficient charges.
Note: There are also ongoing investigations into other cases involving unexplained sources of property, discount code profits, etc. The fugitive defendant Xu Oyu has not yet been apprehended, and relevant units have been requested to assist in repatriation. If any individuals involved in illegal acts during the undisclosed investigation process are discovered, a continuous investigation will be conducted.
After the indictment against Ko Wenzhe was made public, opinions from all sides were organized.
Ko Wenzhe's official team raised questions about the indictment, stating that 2.1 million was a legitimate political donation, and that it was two years apart from the time of the Jinghua City volume reward case.
Regarding the 15 million bribery accusation, Ko Wenzhe's team pointed out that the prosecution only inferred based on the cash withdrawn at a certain time by Shen Qingjing, but could not provide specific times and locations of receipt, and that the prosecution acted illegally and abused power by summoning Ko Wenzhe without prior notice and taking him away unprepared in the early morning.
People's Party legislator Huang Guochang questioned that in the past few months, the media extensively reported various versions of Ko Wenzhe receiving bribes, ranging from 300 to 400 million to cold wallets, bitcoins, etc. However, these accusations were completely absent from the indictment, reflecting the 'trinity of party, inspection, and media' pathological structure.
Democratic Progressive Party legislator Wang Shijian responded to the indictment mentioning that Ko Wenzhe's USB contained a file named 'Emperor.doc', stating that he sent Ko Wenzhe a dragon robe for psychological treatment back in the day. Now that Ko Wenzhe has been indicted, he feels quite emotional.
XU Lubing, the defense lawyer for Shen Qingjing, chairman of Weijing Group, has submitted a request for prosecutor evaluation to the Ministry of Justice, questioning the prosecutor's use of inappropriate political statements during the investigation.
The responses from various stakeholders reflect the controversy and complexity of this case. However, all accusations and defenses need to be rigorously examined and debated in court, with the final judgment made by the court based on evidence.
The Ko Wenzhe case has attracted a lot of attention, but it should be remembered that the presumption of innocence principle applies.
The above summary presents the main arguments and evidence from the prosecution in the indictment, but it is important to emphasize that these are all accusations from the prosecution, and all defendants should enjoy the protection of the presumption of innocence until the court trial and final judgment.
In addition, this article is organized based on news reports and public information. Readers should maintain an objective and neutral attitude when referring to it, avoiding preconceived positions.
(Crypto City) reminds: Anyone should be presumed innocent until proven guilty by a legally public trial.
'Ko Wenzhe has been released on bail! Indictment summary: Is there a USB cold wallet? Latest developments all in one view.' This article was first published in 'Crypto City'.