Former Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Taipei District Court on corruption charges Friday afternoon.

The court convicted Chen of embezzlement, money laundering, bribery and document falsification, with a fine of 200 million New Taiwan dollars (six million U.S. dollars).

Chen's wife Wu Shu-chen was also sentenced to life in jail by the court.

The court sentenced Wu on seven charges related to embezzlement and document falsification. Wu also received a fine of 300 million NT dollars.

Chen was first indicted in December, 2008, for money laundering and bribery, and has been in detention since.

Chen and his wife were charged with embezzling 104 million NT dollars in public funds and accepting bribes of at least 9 million U.S. dollars in a land purchase deal.

Chen's son Chen Chih-chung and daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching were sentenced to jail terms of two years and six months, and one year and eight months respectively.

Chen was not present when the court delivered the verdict.

On Sept. 1, the Taipei District Court sentenced Wu to a year in jail for perjury. Chen Chih-chung and his sister Chen Hsing-yu were each sentenced to six months in the same judgment.

Chen was elected Taiwan leader in May 2000. 

(Xinhua News Agency September 11, 2009)