French prosecutors have asked a Paris court to dismiss a corruption case against former president Jacques Chirac.

Prosecutors argued Tuesday there is not enough evidence to move forward with the case.

Mr. Chirac is accused of embezzling public funds between 1977 and 1995, when he was mayor of Paris. He is suspected of creating a number of nonexistent municipal jobs and giving them to members of his political party, effectively using public funds to help pay for his campaign staff.

But prosecutors now say there is not enough evidence to prove that the jobs were indeed fake.

Mr. Chirac has denied wrongdoing. He had been excused from the trial after his lawyers argued he had memory problems and was not competent to attend court. If convicted, the 78-year-old former politician faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $210,000.

He was immune from prosecution while president from 1995 to 2007.

Mr. Chirac is the first former French head-of-state to face charges since World War Two.