Won 500 NTD from Cloud Invoice but Immediately Seized! Chen Pei-chi Protests to Enforcement Agency: 'Even My Grocery Money Is Taken'

Former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je is under investigation in the Jinghua City case, and his wife, Chen Pei-chi, has taken to Facebook to express her anguish. As she enters her 65th year, Chen says she doesn’t know how she has survived the past two years, constantly feeling that human dignity has been trampled by the judiciary and green media. She admits to suffering from depression.

In response to public doubts about Ko Wen-je’s innocence, Chen states she is still waiting for evidence that he ever accepted money improperly. If such evidence emerges, she says, she will fulfill her promise to the 'Blue Bird' (a nickname for supporters or critics).

Chen recalls her previous post in which she described judges in court as 'like gods, yet also like devils,' with rulings treated as divine edicts. She questions the logic behind the Jinghua City case:

- Political Donations and Involved Personnel: A political donation of 2.1 million NTD to the Taiwan People's Party, which Ko Wen-je claims he was unaware of, is being treated as bribery. Li Wen-tsung was detained for 11 months simply for being pressured to testify that Ko knew about it.

- Urban Development Regulations: According to urban renewal and planning laws, floor area ratio decisions are made by expert committees appointed externally. The legal review found no issues. Ko Wen-je did not know the committee members or meeting schedules, yet he is accused of profiteering and has been jailed for a year and sentenced to 13 years.

Ko only learned of the floor area ratio outcome after the 2024 presidential election, when legislators raised questions. Legally, Chen argues, 'the mayor’s official seal (Jia Zhang) being affixed proves the mayor was unaware.'

Chen recounts visiting the Ministry of Justice’s Administrative Enforcement Agency Taipei Branch after winning 500 NTD in a cloud invoice lottery. When she went to Chunghwa Telecom to print the invoice, the counter staff informed her it had already been printed and the money transferred to Ko Wen-je’s seized account. Furious, she called to protest and demand the return of the 500 NTD—money that could buy 20 bundles of vegetables at Dongmen Market—and also to reclaim her retirement funds.

She thanks the Taipei branch for issuing a press release in response, sarcastically comparing it to a past case where a judge wrote a lengthy theoretical ruling over a 75 NTD unpaid drink. Aside from judges and prosecutors, she says, frontline staff at judicial agencies have actually been quite kind.

Regarding the 'anti-luxury order' mentioned in the enforcement agency’s press release, Chen says she has nothing to worry about. She claims her transportation, attire, bags (some of which were not taken by the廉政署 during the August 2024 raid), and whereabouts are all under constant surveillance by 'Blue Bird,' 'paparazzi,' and 'Sichamao' (a well-known online commentator):

- Waiting for a bus on Ningbo West Street: Photographed and mocked for wearing shabby clothes and using an old cloth bag from Ko’s 2014 mayoral campaign.

- Accompanying her son to Taoyuan Airport: Entire trip photographed, with Sichamao live-streaming the event.

- Waiting for an elevator in a hospital ward at National Taiwan University Hospital: Publicly photographed, implicating visiting friends.

Chen sarcastically notes that if authorities want to enforce an anti-luxury order, they can simply obtain data from Blue Bird, the paparazzi, and Sichamao. She emphasizes that in 36 years of marriage to Ko Wen-je, she has never purchased a single four-wheeled car (a vintage car from their wedding was soon scrapped). Since Ko entered politics, she has never used a Taiwan People’s Party official vehicle for personal trips—such as taking her son to the airport—except when attending party events where entry timing couldn’t be controlled, in which case staff arranged transportation.