Regarding these two positions, these were people who worked in ministers' offices. When a public servant has worked for more than a year in a minister's office, there is a priority system provided for his return to the public service. A person following this system receives no pay while awaiting an available position. Thus, while there is no position, the person retains priority but is not paid.
In both cases, these people used their positions in the minister's office to create positions in the public service so that they could come back to it. They were planning to get paid immediately by coming into fictitious positions which led immediately to other positions. They had no intention of doing that work. It was simply a way of getting around the priority system.