In a press statement, Chen said the financial reforms during his eight-year presidency "did not completely succeed," but he was "absolutely clean."

It is the first time that Chen has publicly addressed allegations over the financial reforms since the money laundering scandal erupted earlier this month.

"Money is dry, and cannot be laundered. The money is clean, it is not dirty, and does not need laundering," Chen said in the statement in reference to the US$21 million his family has remitted out of Taiwan.

"Please believe me. I will not evade what I must face, but it is nothing of the sort as alleged in the media."

He also recounted the many corruption and vote-rigging allegations that had been made against him during his stint as president, which he said had all been proven to be false.

He claimed that his opponents had persistently attempted to oust him, and that all the allegations were of a "political nature." He said he has never pocketed a single dime, saying he has contributed large sums of money to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and its election candidates.

As president, he had to meet an annual quota of NT$10 million to NT$15 million in contributions to the party, plus a lot more extra sums, he said. Between 2001 and 2008, he had been asked to give money during each election.

"But who could I turn to for money?" he asked in the press statement, as the DPP did not run any for-profit businesses. Therefore, he said, he had to keep all of the unused portions of his own campaign funds in order to fund DPP candidates' elections.

While Chen has claimed that the money came from his unused campaign funds, prosecutors reportedly are trying to determine whether it was connected to corruption arising from the financial reforms.

Prosecutors questioned Chen's wife Wu Shu-chen yesterday for a second time at their residence over the scandal. Special Investigations Unit (SIU) spokesman Chu Chao-liang revealed that Wu's attorney and nurse were present during the questioning, which ended at 4:30 p.m.Chu did not reveal details of the questioning, but he said the SIU already issued subpoenas on Wednesday for Chen and Wu's son Chen Chih-chung and daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching, as suspects in the scandal. They are suspected to have played key roles in running the overseas bank accounts for the alleged money laundering.

They are believed to be in the United States but have not been seen publicly since the scandal erupted. The former president reportedly told prosecutors Wednesday that his son and daughter-in-law would return to Taiwan next week.

Prosecutors from the SIU already searched the former first couple's residence last week and questioned the wheelchair-bound Wu, whom Chen blames for remitting the money out of Taiwan without him knowing. It was uncertain whether the ex-president was present when the prosecutors arrived at their home again yesterday.

The TVBS cable channel said that Chen had a lunch gathering earlier with friends, during which he maintained his innocence. Repeating his public confession, he told his friends that the money was unused portions of his campaign funds and had nothing to do with corruption.

He also complained that his son was coming under such great pressure from the media's dogging that he had to cancel his enrollment at a U.S. university.

The cable TV channel also cited prosecutors as saying that Swiss authorities have decided to freeze the money that the Chen family has in bank accounts in Switzerland indefinitely. The prosecutors are also trying to see whether the Chen family has hidden more than the sum they have admitted.

While Chen and his family have given up their DPP memberships, the party has refrained from officially condemning the former president.

An internal anti-corruption committee is now conducting the DPP's own probe into the case. Until the probe is concluded, DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen remains cautious about the party's relations with Chen.

The party's initial response to Chen's public confession to having hidden the money was shock, plus widespread condemnations from DPP members and supporters. But Chen's supporters are now beginning to rally behind him, with many describing the investigation as a witch hunt by the KMT government.

The DPP is worried that the upcoming anti-government demonstrations, which the DPP will participate in, may provide opportunities for Chen's die-hard supporters to show their backing for the ex-president.

At the same time, Tsai has to prevent the anti-Chen camps inside the party from engaging in an open clash with Chen supporters, the United Evening News commented.