TAIPEI, Nov 19, 2007 (AFP) - The trial of Taiwan vice president Annette Lu on corruption and forgery charges for allegedly misusing an expense account opened Monday in the latest high-profile case involving leading politicians.

Lu "categorically denied" the charges at the first hearing in Taipei District Court, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported.

Before a panel of three judges, Lu said she "was not aware of detailed procedure of claiming the special expenses" and it was impossible for her to fraudulently claim the expenses or order her subordinates to cheat, CNA reported.

Lu was accused of claiming 5.6 million Taiwan dollars (174,000 US) in "special expenses" using more than 1,000 false receipts from December 2000 to May 2006.

The charges against Lu are the latest in a line against high-profile bureaucrats and lawmakers, which analysts say stems from a decades-old system of allotting "special expense accounts" to higher-ranking government officials.

The rules regarding special funds are vague, analysts say, allowing some to argue they are a kind of "subsidy" for officials, who are not required to present formal receipts.

Government officials are allocated a set amount for their special expense account according to rank.

Before stepping into the courtroom, Lu again maintained her innocence saying she acted the same way as 6,500 other government chiefs entitled to special expenses.

"The judicial system remains divided in the way how the expenses should be claimed," she told reporters and scores of supporters outside the court. "There is no reason to ask me, one individual, to bear the burden."

Lu, vice president since 2000, is a 63-year-old former political prisoner and human rights advocate who briefly stood for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) nomination in the 2008 presidential race, but withdrew early in the process.

Two other leading DPP members -- party chairman Yu Shyi-kun, a former premier, and former foreign minister Chen Tan-sun -- were also indicted on corruption and forgery charges together with Lu in September.

Yu allegedly claimed 2.4 million dollars in special expenses with false receipts while serving in various posts, including that of premier, between October 2000 and December 2005.

Chen claimed 368,199 dollars in false expenses from July 2004 to June 2006, prosecutors have said.

Their trials are yet to be scheduled.

Corruption charges carry a minimum of seven years in prison and forgery is punishable by up to seven years in jail.

While some say the rules on special expenses are full of loopholes that can be exploited, others say officials are breaking the law if the money is not spent on official purposes.

Opposition leader and KMT presidential hopeful Ma Ying-jeou was found not guilty by a district court in August of graft charges over special funds. The high court is hearing Ma's case after prosecutors appealed.

Frank Hsieh, DPP's presidential candidate for the March 2008 elections and vice presidential candidate Su Tseng-chang, also a former premier, were cleared of similar corruption charges in September after their expenses were found to be legitimate.

The most controversial of the corruption scandals that have rattled Taiwan involves Wu Shu-chen, wife of President Chen Shui-bian, who is on trial for corruption and forgery for allegedly embezzling 14.8 million dollars from state coffers.

The president was named as a suspect in the case but cannot be prosecuted while in office because he enjoys presidential immunity.