Investigators in French Polynesia have charged a government minister, James Salmon, in connection with a major and long-running corruption probe.
The affair centres on payments by a leading New Caledonian businessman, Bill Ravel, who himself was held for weeks, amid efforts to ascertain who received money from him.
Media reports say Mr Salmon's was briefly detained and charged.
His advisor Jean Chin Foo has been jailed as part of the probe.
Mr Chin Foo is alleged to have received large sums from Mr Ravel and passed some of them to the minister.
The case initially focused on allegations that Mr Ravel paid the secretary general of the confederation of independent unions, Cyril Legayic, 160,000 US dollars in cash over four years to contain strikes at his companies in Papeete.
