TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Control Yuan has fined jailed former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) NT$3.74 million (US$113,000) and ordered the confiscation of NT$55.79 million for breaking the Political Donations Act, reports said Wednesday.

The violations date back to Ko’s campaign as the Taiwan People’s Party candidate in the January 2024 presidential election. His vice-presidential running mate, Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈), was found not guilty, while the accountant who had signed off on the campaign finances, Tuanmu Cheng (端木正), will face separate disciplinary action, per Liberty Times.

According to the Control Yuan report, the four violations included a failure to report NT$40.67 million in revenue from concert tickets and campaign souvenirs. Ko’s campaign also did not respect legal time limits, while some donations came from a company headed by a foreign national, or exceeded the maximum limit of NT$100,000 per year.

The Control Yuan, the nation’s top government watchdog, explained in a news release how its investigation had met several roadblocks. At first, it was unable to review related documents because they had been taken away by the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau. In September, Ko was detained incommunicado, making it impossible for the Control Yuan to question him.

Ko is still being detained during the investigation into a case of alleged corruption, with the developer of the Core Pacific City complex suspected of having paid bribes to influence the Taipei City Government to adjust the floor area ratio of the project. The changes were approved by the city government during Ko’s period as mayor between 2014 and 2022.