Jun.11, 2010, 8:03 PM ET

Taiwan's High Court on Friday upheld former President Chen Shui-bian's conviction on corruption charges, but reduced his life sentence to 20 years in prison.

Chief Judge Teng Chen-chiu of the High Court said Friday that Chen's sentence was reduced because the court "considered the amount of embezzled public funds smaller than the lower court." The court also slashed the NT$200 million ($6.2 million) fine handed down to Chen by a Taipei district court to NT$170 million.

In its ruling made Friday, the High Court also reduced the life sentence of Chen's wife Wu Shu-jen to 20 years, and reduced her fine to NT$200 million from the NT$300 million handed to her by the Taipei district court.

The Taipei district court had sentenced Chen and his wife last year to life in prison and imposed fines of NT$200 million and NT$300 million respectively on the pair. The couple also lost their civil rights for life.

The Taipei District Court found Chen guilty on five counts of embezzlement, corruption, forgery, bribes taking and money laundering totaling NT$800 million, some of which were laundered overseas through Swiss bank accounts and paper companies.

Chen and his wife Wu were indicted on 12th December 2008 on charges of embezzling millions of dollars from a special presidential fund, money laundering through overseas bank accounts and accepting millions of dollars in bribes in at least two deals.

Chen, an ardent supporter of Taiwanese independence, was arrested 12th November 2008 on accusations of money laundering and illegally using a special presidential fund during his 2000-2008 presidency. He has been held in a Taipei jail since his arrest.

Since their arrest, the former couple has maintained that the the substantial payments they received from businessmen were political donations, and not bribe as alleged by the prosecutors. They have, however, admitted to misusing some of those funds.