The main person jailed in French Polynesia in a major tax fraud case has lodged an appeal.
French Polynesia's court building Photo: RNZI
Thierry Pageau had been given a six-year prison sentence and had also been fined $US1 million for defrauding the authorities with fake transactions to benefit from a French tax refund law.
The criminal court in Tahiti had given a total of 13 people jail terms over the affair.
Among those convicted were a former minister Clarenntz Vernaudon, who has been given a three-year prison term of which 18 months are suspended.
Between 2005 and 2010, hundreds of the questionable transactions were carried out through an operation run by Pageau, netting about $US20 million in refunds.
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.
