Former French budget minister admits secret account

FORMER French budget minister Jerome Cahuzac has admitted having a secret foreign bank account and was placed under investigation for allegedly laundering proceeds of tax fraud.

Cahuzac’s admission he has around €600,000 (£508,000) in a foreign account was a reversal of his past denials that he held a secret Swiss account and dealt a blow to president François Hollande, who had promised an irreproachable team of ministers.

Cahuzac had already resigned as budget minister two weeks ago after prosecutors began investigating accusations by an investigative website Mediapart about his Swiss account.

“I was caught in a spiral of lies and I did wrong. I am devastated with remorse,” Cahuzac blogged.

Separately his lawyer said that he had been placed under investigation – the final step in France before a suspect is accused of a crime and a court case opened.

Cahuzac said he had confirmed to investigating magistrates that an account existed, although he had not deposited any money there for some 12 years, and said he had given instructions for the funds in it to be moved to his account in Paris.

In a statement, Mr Hollande said that Cahuzac had committed an “unpardonable moral error” by denying the existence of the account and it was now up to the justice system to do its job.

Cahuzac said he had had the account for some 20 years.

The affair comes as Mr Hollande’s socialist government battles to convince investors of its fiscal credibility and ability to rein in public finances.