August 18, 2008	Monday	Sha'aban 15, 1429

TAIPEI, Aug 17: Taiwan’s former president Chen Shui-bian has been barred from leaving the island after his office was raided on money-laundering allegations implicating him and his family, officials said on Sunday.

The coast guard confirmed that Chen on Saturday had been barred by prosecutors from leaving the territory which he led for eight years.

“We received the order from the special investigation unit around 9:20pm last night saying former president Chen was barred from leaving the country,”Coast Guard Administration spokesman Hsieh Ching-chin said.

The move came after prosecutors separately searched Chen’s office and residence in Taipei.

“We took away accounting books and computers which could help with clarifying the case,” Chu Chao-liang, spokesman for the special investigation unit, told reporters.

Chen and his wife Wu Shu-chen were questioned on Saturday by prosecutors over the money laundering charges against their family.

Chu said prosecutors did not use warrants as they were cooperative while the wheelchair-bound Wu wore a cast and appeared to be in poor health.

Wu claimed that the overseas funds came from her family, Chen’s past income as a lawyer, his political donations and their investment proceeds, local newspapers said.

Taiwan launched a probe into the money laundering claims following similar moves by Swiss authorities.

Copies of Swiss documents obtained by Kuomintang lawmaker Hung Hsiu-chu showed that Chen’s son Chen Chih-chung and daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching transferred $31 million to her Swiss bank accounts in 2007.

Chen admitted that his wife had wired abroad 20 million US dollars from his past campaign funds, saying she had done so without his knowledge.

He has denied money laundering.—AFP