On March 26, the Taipei District Court delivered its first-instance verdict on the Jinghua City case, sentencing former Taipei Mayor and former Taiwan People's Party Chairman Ko Wen-je to 17 years in prison.
Regarding the highly watched bribery accusation in the Jinghua City case, the judicial panel ultimately found that Ko Wen-je accepted a bribery sum of NT$2.1 million (about RM260,000). In response, Ko Wen-je’s wife, Chen Peiqi, wrote on Facebook, exclaiming, “This amount is not even half of my annual income.”
Chen Peiqi pointed out that she has been married to Ko Wen-je for 35 years, and has always thought of him as a strange person. When he was a doctor, he always considered patients’ lives more important than family, which she didn’t mind, since patients' lives are indeed more important. Although Ko Wen-je had a good doctor’s salary, he lived like an ascetic, even somewhat impoverished.
Chen Peiqi recalled once asking Ko Wen-je, with such a decent income, why live like this? Although he has Asperger’s traits, Ko Wen-je responded emotionally, saying that he earned money for his wife and children to use.
Chen Peiqi said she really didn’t know that the NT$2.1 million Ko Wen-je allegedly pocketed was for her to indulge herself with, and now he's facing over a decade in jail because of it. “This money isn't even half of my annual salary!”
She emphasized that she doesn’t buy luxury brands, doesn't care for gourmet food, doesn’t hire servants, and commutes to work by bus every day. “What is the point of embezzling NT$2.1 million for me? Where's the money exactly? All of the Ko family’s passbooks and home have already been searched top to bottom, so I ask the judge, where is the money Ko Wen-je embezzled?”
She stated that she has always managed the family’s finances, and mentioned that when the content from the live broadcast of the debate hearing is made public in five days, she welcomes the public to look for evidence that Ko Wen-je ever gave the alleged illicit funds to Chen Peiqi. “After the live broadcast, if there is concrete evidence, as I said, I will go to Taipei District Court and jump off the building.”