I knew a French businessman over there that ignored the rules for years and years and finally fixed it about 8 years ago, it was easy to get away with a lot back then but my impression was that they are far more strict these days. So it is interesting to note your experience, not something I want to try personally though.
I was very humble with the officer I guess if you went with the wrong attitude it could be more of a problem,
I would use that tactic too, never piss off people who have authority over your immediate future, luckily saving 'face' is not a big issue for a lot of us westerners we're a bit more grown up than that