A Taiwanese business tycoon is on trial for allegedly pocketing billions by selling land to his own company at an inflated price, and prosecutors want him locked up for decades.

• Shen Ching-ching, head of the Core Pacific Group, is accused of steering a land sale so a company he controlled bought the Core Pacific City site from another arm of his group at a big markup.
• Prosecutors say the land was worth roughly NT$30 billion but sold for NT$37 billion, handing insiders about NT$3 billion in profit; they charged 13 people and asked for a 26-year sentence.
• Shen pleaded not guilty, called the case a huge injustice, and said everything he did was for the company and its shareholders after years of heavy losses at its petrochemical unit.
• His lawyers argue three outside appraisals valued the site in that range, so the winning bid was not above fair value, and that Shen had influence but not the final say.
• Shen hinted the prosecution may be tied to the wider legal fight around former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je, whose corruption case also centers on the same development site.

Outlook: The trial is only beginning, and the fight will turn on whether the land was genuinely overvalued or simply bid up to avoid another failed auction.