An appeal court in French Polynesia has upheld an earlier ruling that a raft of contracts issued by the presidency of Gaston Flosse between 1996 and 2004 were of no use for the public.
According to Tahiti-infos, Mr Flosse and 21 other high-profile individuals wanted the court to annul a ruling by the Accounts Office which found that the president had made available open-ended contracts to municipal councilors and unionists which cost the tax payers millions of US dollars.
The provision of these presidential contracts for these people to work in local council and unions was seen as nepotism.
In 2008, Mr Flosse tried to get the territorial assembly to recognise the contracts' usefulness in order to avoid having to reimburse the money, but failed.
Reports from Tahiti say he may try to resubmit his bid to the new assembly after securing a majority in this year's election.
