Taiwan's high court announced a verdict of "not guilty" on Friday for the second trial of Former Kuomintang (KMT) party chairman Ma Ying-jeou in special fund case.
Ma was accused of misusing more than 11 million New Taiwan dollars (330,000 U.S. dollars) in expense funds during his tenureas mayor of Taipei.
Ma's second trial began on Oct. 5, nearly two months after he was cleared by a lower court on Aug. 14. Prosecutors in Taipei then successfully appealed to the high court against Ma's acquittal.
The high court maintained the "not guilty" ruling of the first trial and also cleared Ma of the charges of breach of trust and fraud in Friday's verdict.
Analysts say that the verdict will have great impact on the 2008 Taiwan leader election as a conviction in the case could have sent Ma to prison and barred him from running as the KMT candidate.
In August 2006, legislators from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) accused Ma of misusing expense funds during his tenure as Taipei mayor. Ma resigned as chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan's leading opposition party, after being indicted on Feb. 13, but declared that he would run for the 2008 Taiwan leader election.
The KMT endorsed Ma as its candidate on June 24. Ma has made Vincent Siew, a veteran economist, his running mate.
The expense funds, also known as special allowance funds, are allocated by the Taiwan authorities to executive officers. Official receipts are required for half of the funds. The spending of the other half only requires the signature of the official.
Source:Xinhua
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