The 62-year-old was head of the border police's information unit at Orly airport south of Paris. He was in charge of tracking the movement of people on the wanted list, including those suspected of radicalisation.

Now retired, the policeman is suspected of giving between 100 and 200 highly sensitive records to the Moroccan secret services – earning him cash payments and lavish free holidays in Morocco and also Angola.

The investigation brought to light a payment of €17,000 to the bank account of the policeman and his wife, who were in debt at the time.

He will stand trial for corruption at Creteil court to the southeast of Paris, for events that took place between October 2014 and May 2017.

“At the time, my client was convinced he was acting in the superior interest of France,” his lawyer Blandine Russo told AFP. 

“He was asked to collaborate with Morocco. For him, it was a way of monitoring (wanted people) and avoiding new terrorist attacks,” Russo said, adding that her client was psychologically troubled at the time.

A Franco-Moroccan man, accused of being the middleman with the Moroccan secret services, is also standing trial for corruption.

As head of an airport security company, the 57-year-old is believed to have had a central role in the set up.

He is suspected of transferring the confidential documents, many of which were found at his home and in his office.

The Franco-Moroccan is also accused of paying for the holidays abroad of the policeman and his family.

Contacted by AFP, his lawyer did not wish to comment.

The border policeman's wife will also stand trial for receiving goods resulting from corruption – judicial authorities having decided that she must have known the reasons for the holidays.

She is also accused of stealing medicine – given to the middleman – from the hospital where she worked as a nursing assistant.

Investigators have issued an arrest warrant for the Moroccan agent, but so far he is nowhere to be found. He is wanted on charges of corruption.

“It is extremely rare for a case involving states secrets to end up in court, particularly as a result of an anonymous tip off,” the Creteil court said.

The trial should be held in 2021, a judicial source told AFP.