Former Taipei mayor and founder of the Taiwan People's Party Ko Wen-je has hours to pay a revised US$2.1M in bail after the High Court ruled he and other high-profile defendants granted bail posed a collusion and flight risk.
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00:00Former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je's freedom is on the line again, just days after he was
00:06released on bail following four months in detention, indicted for corruption and embezzling
00:13political funds when he was head of the Taiwanese capital.
00:17Now the high court has sided with prosecutors, ruling to increase his bail sum from around
00:23900,000 U.S. dollars to over 2.1 million, and Ko was given less than 24 hours to pay
00:31the difference, facing renewed detention if he doesn't meet the 5 p.m. local time deadline
00:37on the 30th of December.
00:44Like Ko, the other high-profile defendants involved in the case, namely Taipei City Councilor
00:50Angela Ying, real estate tycoon Shen Qing-jing, and Ko's former mayoral office head Li Wen-zong,
00:57have had their bail sums hiked up, and now they all must also wear trackers.
01:04Moments after the ruling, Ko was seen leaving his home for his lawyer's office.
01:11With just hours to make the payment, there is speculation that the doctor-turned-politician
01:16may have to sell or use his properties as collateral.
01:20Standing by their leader, members of Ko's Taiwan People's Party have begun raising funds
01:25among themselves, seeing the case against Ko as politically motivated.
01:31Today, for the Taiwanese people, there is only one thing that is important, Chairman
01:37Ko.
01:38Ko has offered to resign as party leader, despite having founded this third-party force
01:44that has challenged the country's long-standing two-party system.
01:49Meanwhile, prosecutors say Ko's case is being handled in line with expectations, handing
01:55down one of the country's highest bail sums among politicians, which they say match the
02:00damage Ko has allegedly caused.
02:03Andy Hsu and Joyce Sun for Taiwan Plus.