Chen walks out of president's office and into a corruption inquiry

Prosecutors launched a corruption investigation into Chen Shui-bian yesterday, minutes after he left office as Taiwan's president, reports Kathrin Hille.

The move could mar the political legacy of a man who prides himself as a fighter for democracy but has faced criticism over corruption allegations during his final term.

The moment he stepped out of Taipei's presidential palace after handing power to his successor, Ma Ying-jeou, the supreme court prosecutors' office said Mr Chen had become a suspect in a case of alleged abuse of a discretionary presidential budget. His wife, Wu Shu-chen, was indicted on charges of corruption, perjury and document forgery in 2006, but the trial has not progressed because wheelchair-bound Ms Wu has failed to appear in court, citing ill health.

Prosecutors said at the time of her indictment that she and Mr Chen had jointly used the opportunities provided by his office to swindle T$14.8m ($483,000, €309,000, £246,000) from a presidential allowance for national security spending.

Mr Chen was protected by presidential immunity at the time, but investigators had said they planned to prosecute after he left office.

The couple deny doing anything wrong, and blame a legacy of fuzzy accounting, political patronage and slush funds inherited from long Kuomintang one-party rule preceding Mr Chen's presidency.

He admits using third-party receipts to obtain disbursements from the fund, but says they were used for secret diplomacy.

Yesterday, prosecutors sent a request to the new president, asking for documents and recordings declared secret by Mr Chen to be handed over to them.

    Microsoft's use of Mr Icahn's attack on Yahoo to try to reopen talks points to careful manoeuvring to try to secure a deal without turning hostile. Microsoft has not held any talks with Mr Icahn, a person close to the situation said.

Late on Sunday, Yahoo said in a statement that it had ”confirmed with Microsoft that it is not interested in pursuing an acquisition of all of Yahoo at this time.” It did not refer directly to the software company's latest proposal, but added that it was looking at ”a number of value maximising strategic alternatives for Yahoo, and we remain open to pursuing any transaction which is in the best interests of our stockholders.”