TAIPEI, TAIWAN - A 17-year-old boy who duped Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian by posing as a fortune-teller lost a libel bid against a newspaper for branding him a liar, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The teenager, identified only by his family name Huang, was arrested last year for alleged forgery after boasting on television about his scam targeting Chen, but was later released by a juvenile court.

In May, Huang pressed libel charges against the local Apple Daily for calling him "the teenager who conned Chen" and "(the teenager who) conned numerous people" in one of its columns.

"The case concerns the public interest, and prosecutors have ruled that the report was not written with the intention to defame," said a spokesman for prosecutor's office in the Taipei district of Shihlin.

Huang's case caused a media sensation in Taiwan and brought comparisons with Leonardo DiCaprio's character in the 2002 blockbuster "Catch Me If You Can" amid reports that he assumed nine different identities in a series of cons.

The teenager reportedly posed as a radio station director, a hotel executive and a British passport holder with two Master's degrees, as well as a fortune-teller.

He has apologised and admitted lying about his age and fabricating his academic and work experience "out of vanity".

The ex-president has accused Huang of trying to swindle money out of him after arranging a Buddhist ritual for him but denied getting a tarot card reading from the boy.

Newspapers had a field day with the story, claiming that Chen, who was battling corruption charges, was in tears after receiving an unfavourable reading.

Chen was sentenced to life in prison last month on corruption convictions. In further echoes from "Catch Me If You Can", based on the life of teenage swindler Frank Abagnale Jr, reports have said Huang never went to high school and is estranged from his parents.