TAIPEI - FORMER Taiwanese president Chen Shui Bian on Wednesday denied a report that he considered asking France for asylum before he was implicated in money laundering allegations.

'The report is a fabrication and it is absolutely baseless,' Chen said in a statement, without elaborating.

Taiwan's Next magazine, which was the first to report the money laundering claims, said on Wednesday that a Chen confidant raised the subject of asylum at a secret meeting with a group of French arms dealers in January.

The magazine did not name its sources.

It said they also discussed setting up a subsidiary of Taiwan Goal - which was formed by Chen's administration to handle the nation's arms imports - to focus on acquiring French weaponry.

The asylum plan fell through after Chen and several relatives were barred from leaving Taiwan when local prosecutors launched the probe last month into the alleged money laundering, it added.

Chen, his wife, son, daughter-in-law and brother-in-law have all been named as defendants in that case.

The ex-president has admitted his wife wired 20 million US dollars abroad from his past campaign funds, but said she had done so without his knowledge.

He has denied laundering money.

Chen, who left office in May, is already being investigated for allegedly embezzling 14.8 million Taiwan dollars (S$689,339) in special expenses while president, while his wife is on trial for corruption and document forgery in the same case.