Taiwan's high court will deliver the verdict for the second trial of Ma Ying-jeou, who is being charged with embezzlement of special allowance funds, on December 28, according to Taiwan-based media.

The high court held a third and final hearing into the case on Friday, before which Ma again insisted he was innocent and urged the court to uphold the not guilty ruling of the first trial.

He said the high court judges should pay more attention to the pitfalls of the expense funds system rather than his alleged crime.

Chen Shui-bian and several other senior officials of Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have also been accused of misusing expense funds.

During his eight-year tenure as Taipei mayor, Ma donated 68.09 million New Taiwan dollars to charity programs, much more than the 15.35 million New Taiwan dollars expense funds he had used in the same period, Ma told the court.

"Being sued on charges of embezzlement have made me feel even more pain than if I lost my life," Ma said.

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 successfully appealed to the high court against Ma's acquittal.

In August 2006, legislators from the 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.

(Xinhua News Agency December 1, 2007)