The Taipei District Court has begun hearing the case against Core Pacific Group chairman Shen Ching-ching, who is accused of inflating the price of the Core Pacific City land in a "selling from one hand to the other" scheme that netted NT$7.2 billion in arbitrage profits. It is bad news for the group and the companies connected to it.

• Prosecutors allege that Shen simultaneously controlled three companies — CPC Corporation (China Petrochemical Development), Ding Yue and Core Pacific City — and had the subsidiary buy the group's own land at a high price, paying roughly NT$7.2 billion above market value.
• After the Core Pacific City shopping mall closed following poor business performance, it left behind nearly NT$10 billion in bank loans. Three rounds of tendering drew no takers, and the property was ultimately taken over by the group's own subsidiary.
• Prosecutors believe NT$2.94 billion of the arbitrage proceeds was transferred layer by layer through the accounts of 39 companies and into a shell company, where it was used to repay overseas gambling debts.
• The shell company is alleged to be linked to Alvin Chau, founder of Macau's Suncity Group. NT$2.7 billion in assets held in its accounts has been placed under confirmed court seizure.
• Prosecutors are seeking a 26-year sentence for Shen. Chang Chih-cheng, the group's finance manager and a co-defendant, was acquitted at first instance on the political-donation bribery charges; prosecutors have appealed.

Outlook: The court will first work through the points in dispute between the two sides. The second-instance hearing in Chang Chih-cheng's profiteering case is set for September 8, and the litigation is expected to drag on for some time.