Taipei  - Taiwan's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a high court's not-guilty verdict for president-elect Ma Ying-jeou, who had been accused of embezzling special monthly allowances during his time as Taipei mayor.

"The panel of judges overruled prosecutors' appeal of the high court's not-guilty verdict and upheld the high court's original sentence," said Chang Tsun-tzung, spokesman for the Supreme Court.

The latest ruling was final and frees Ma to take office on May 20.

Ma was charged in February 2007 with allegedly embezzling 11 million Taiwan dollars (362,000 US dollars) in monthly allowances allotted to him for public function spending during his 1998-2006 tenure as mayor.

A district court acquitted him in August on the grounds that such allowances were meant to be subsidies for all senior government officials and that Ma just followed the existing practice in claiming the funds.

Prosecutors filed an appeal, but the high court upheld the acquittal in December, prompting prosecutors to take the case to the Supreme Court for a final decision.

The graft suit, filed by lawmakers in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), had seriously tainted the image of Ma, known for his integrity and popularity.

The case had initially affected Ma during his presidential run against his DPP opponent, Frank Hsieh, but Ma went on to win by a landslide in the March 22 election.

Ma's office said Thursday that the president-elect all along had been convinced of his innocence and was also confident that the judiciary would clear his name. (dpa)