SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — A court in El Salvador has absolved the late President Francisco Flores of civil responsibility in a case in which he was accused of diverting more than $15 million in earthquake relief funds from Taiwan.

Investigators had found that $10 million of the money had gone to Flores' Arena party and the rest benefited him personally.

But the court ruled Friday there was no basis for a civil judgment against him because documents presented by the Public Ministry "were not authenticated."

Defense lawyer Edgar Morales Joya said there is no proof against the ex-president.

Under the decision, nine properties seized by the state will return to Flores' family.

Flores governed from 1999 to 2004 and died in 2016 while under house arrest accused of embezzlement, illicit enrichment and other crimes.