A French court has ruled that the proceeds from the sale of a property owned by French Polynesia's veteran politician, Gaston Flosse, be kept by the public purse in France.
The Nouvelles de Tahiti reports that the court in Poitiers rejected the senator's bid to win the release of the 2.7 million US dollars paid for the sale of his Paris property.
The court ruled that the money be held in trust for French Polynesia to ensure he can pay the fines incurred for misspending public funds when he was the territory's president.
It found that his demand for the money's release was not compatible with an appeal court ruling dating back to last June.
None of his convictions for abuse of public funds has been declared final.
