Taipei - A Taiwan court decided Tuesday to begin the formal trial of former first lady Wu Shu-chen on March 17 on corruption charges.

"The formal proceedings will be held on March 17, during which Chen Cheng-hui will be summoned to testify against the defendant," said Tsai Shou-hsun, judge of the Taipei District Court, who made the decision during a pretrial hearing for Wu.

Chen - chief treasurer for Wu's husband, former president Chen Shui-bian - is a defendant-turned-witness who pleaded guilty to embezzlement charges, confessing that she had helped the former first lady make illegal funding claims.

Wu was charged along with Chen Shui-bian in mid-December with embezzling 2.97 million US dollars in state funds, accepting 14 million US dollars in bribes, money laundering and document forgery during the time when Chen Shui-bian was president from 2000 to 2008.

A total of 14 people - including Chen Shui-bian's son, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law and sister-in-law - were indicted in the high-profile corruption case that has rocked the island.

Wu had pleaded guilty to money laundering and document forgery charges while nine other co-defendants admitted to money laundering charges.

Chen Cheng-hui's confession dealt a serious blow to the ex-president, whom prosecutors said was the person behind the massive corruption case.

Chen Shui-bian is to be brought before the court Wednesday for a new round of pretrial hearings. His formal trial has yet to be scheduled, but the court might discuss that date Wednesday as well as whether to release him from custody.

The former president has been detained since December 30 at the order of the Taipei District Court on the grounds that he could flee and threaten witnesses if freed.

Chen Shui-bian has insisted that his pretrial detention is a violation of human rights. Chen Shui-bian has also claimed his prosecution is a result of political persecution by his successor, Ma Ying-jeou of China-friendly Nationalist Party. (dpa)