They also won court approval to detain Chen Cheng-hui, the former president's longtime accountant, as a defendant in the scams.

She became the first defendant ever detained in the series of high-profile scams allegedly involving the former first family and the former head of state's close aides following an investigation of more than two years.

The search marked the second time prosecutors have raided Chen's residence in two months, following an unprecedented move on Aug. 16.

But prosecutors also searched Chen's office in Taipei for the first time. The office, manned by several aides, has been used by the former president as a power base for political activities after leaving public office on May 20. The latest search was an expanded operation from the previous one by prosecutors on the special criminal investigation task force under the Supreme Prosecutor Office.

They led more than 150 people to search 27 different places in the Greater Taipei area and northeastern Yilan County.

The extensive search covered the residence of Chen's daughter, the former first family's safe deposit boxes stored at banks, the residences of former first lady Wu Shu-chen's relatives and friends, plus residences of employees of a construction firm that allegedly wired money into overseas bank accounts of the Chen family.

The former first lady was exonerated for allegedly accepting bribes in the form of vouchers from a department store chain and possible insider stock trading in the past.

But she and several of Chen's aides were indicted with corruption and forgery in November 2006 for using receipts provided by others to claim reimbursements totaling NT$14.8 million from the president's public fund -- "state affairs fee" -- between July 2002 and March 2006.

However, she declined to attend court hearings after being served with 17 summons, citing ill health.

Ex-president Chen, who had immunity from prosecution while in office, was probed for his role in the "state affairs fund" case soon after he stepped down from the presidency on May 20.

The latest house searches involve a separately alleged money-laundering case against him and his family.

Chen Shui-bian and Wu, their son Chen Chih-chung and daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching, and Wu's elder brother Wu Ching-mao have been named suspects in the money-laundering case and barred from leaving the country.The former first lady then remitted NT$300 million overseas through various bank accounts belonging to her daughter-in-law and other members of her family.

No prosecutors or investigators could have had solid evidence without help from the authorities of Switzerland, Singapore and the Egmont Group, an international anti-money laundering organization.

The former president was forced to admit and make a public apology on Aug. 14 that his wife had wired surplus campaign expenses from his two mayoral elections and two presidential elections between 1993 and 2004 overseas, without his knowledge, until early this year.

It turned out that former Investigation Bureau chief Yeh Sheng-mao already handed over to the former president a report by the Egmont Group in early February detailing the suspected money-laundering by Chen's family members.

Chen took away the original copy of the documents and never gave them back to Yeh.

Yeh was indicted for withholding important information concerning possible crimes. Prosecutors have sought a jail term for more than two years.

In the latest development in the case, the former president's cashier and accountant Chen Cheng-hui, who is not related to Chen Shui-bian, was interrogated a fourth time yesterday by prosecutors for her suspected role in helping transfer money into the overseas accounts of the former first family.

She was last questioned on Sept. 4, but this time, she was named as the sixth suspect in the case.

Prosecutors eventually won the court's permission for her detention in the evening.

Meanwhile, the former first lady's brother Wu Ching-mao was also questioned again by prosecutors.

Former President Chen watched investigators conduct the search at his office before heading for Taichung, central Taiwan via bullet train as scheduled.

Chen was later interviewed by a radio station in favor of Taiwan independence and had lunch with Taiwan Society Central, also a pro-independence group which has long supported him. Chen also called on Ho Chun-mu, a heavyweight of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party later in the day.

This was the fourth time the embattled former president has traveled out of Taipei to huddle with his hard-core supporters since the alleged money-laundering scandal first came to light in mid-August.

Despite the scams, the supporters still back Chen for his campaign promoting Taiwan independence.

Some lawmakers criticized Chen for an alleged attempt to turn the judicial case into a political event, including his plan to organize large-scale demonstrations in capital Taipei.

Chen told supporters that he stashed money abroad because he want to put the funds toward helping Taiwan cultivate diplomatic relations.

Prosecutors first searched Chen's residence in the posh Hsinyi District in eastern Taipei on August 16, three days after the matter came to light.