5 year sentence sought for French Polynesia's biggest tax fraud

6:35 pm on 19 May 2018

The prosecution in French Polynesia has requested a five-year jail sentence for the main accused in what is being described as the territory's biggest case of tax fraud.

Thierry Pageau is one of 13 people accused of defrauding the authorities with allegedly fake transactions to benefit from a tax refund law which was meant to boost investment from France in its overseas territories.

Among those charged is a former minister Clarenntz Vernaudon, who the prosecution wants to be jailed for three years.

Two months ago he received a suspended jail sentence for abusing public funds.

Between 2005 and 2010, hundreds of the questionable transactions were carried out through an operation run by Thierry Pageau.

In 2011, he spent nine months in prison while the matter was being investigated.

Last year, he was jailed again for three years for drug dealing and violence against a minor.