Huge tax fraud case opens in Tahiti court

A trial is due to open in French Polynesia today in what is being described as the territory's biggest case of tax fraud.

The case revolves around the alleged abuse of a tax refund law which was meant to boost investment from France in its overseas territories.

13 people are due to appear in the criminal court in Papeete, accused of lodging false invoices to reclaim more than $US20 million from the state.

Among those charged is a former minister Clarenntz Vernaudon, who two months ago received a suspended jail sentence for abusing public funds.

Hundreds of allegedly fake transactions were carried out between 2005 and 2010, with most of them funneled through offices run by businessman 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.