Judicial authorities in French Polynesia are grappling with a request by a French businessman to be reimbursed $US800,000 he paid in bail 10 years ago.
Hubert Haddad had been jailed for several months during investigations into Tahiti's biggest corruption case in which he was accused of paying the then president, Gaston Flosse, more than $US2 million in kickbacks for government contracts.
Both were given jail sentences in 2013 but on appeal a year later the matter was thrown out on a technicality, with a decision now expected in July on whether to re-open the case.
Mr Haddad's lawyer has now secured the consent of an investigative judge to be repaid just over half a million dollars of the bail sum.
However Tahiti-infos reported that the prosecution was opposed to any reimbursement, with a decision expected next week.
The overturned 2013 judgment in the so-called OPT case also provided for the repayment of more than $US5 million to the OPT.
Flosse confirmed during the trial that the money had been spent for private expenses.