French minister to be investigated for having a secret singapore bank account

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France's former tax tsar admits having undeclared Swiss bank account
François Hollande's former tax tsar begged for "forgiveness" after admitting to having an undeclared Swiss bank account for the past 20 years, as he was placed under formal investigation for tax fraud.

Jérôme Cahuzac, who resigned as budget minister last month over tax fraud allegations, had denied "ever" possessing a foreign bank account before parliament, describing such allegations as "crazy" and "slanderous".
But the Socialist government's former "Monsieur Propre" (Mr Clean) on Tuesday admitted to having a "bank account abroad" for the past two decades.
"I met the two judges (leading the case) today. I confirmed the existence of this account and informed them that I had already given the necessary orders so that the funds on this account – around 600,000 euros (£509,000) – be repatriated to my account in Paris," Mr Cahuzac said in a statement.
He asked for "forgiveness for the damage I have caused" the President and the government and offered his "sincere and deepest apologies" to the French.
The scandal has plunged the government into crisis. Seen as a pillar of the cabinet before his resignation, Mr Cahuzac, 60, was responsible for making drastic government spending cuts and leading the fight against tax evasion.

"I fought a terrible internal struggle to try and resolve the conflict between the duty to tell the truth, which I failed to uphold, and the desire to honour the missions entrusted to me," he said. "I was stuck in a spiral of lies and misled myself. I am devastated by remorse".
"To think that I could have avoided confronting my past that I wanted to believe was over and done with was an unforgivable fault. I will now face this reality with total transparency," he said.

His lawyer confirmed he placed the money in a Swiss bank account before transferring it to Singapore in 2009.

Mr Hollande accused his former minister of committing "an unforgivable moral fault by denying the facts", while Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault admitted he had had “doubts” about whether his former minister had been telling the truth, but “no proof”.
“Jerome Cahuzac lied up until the end,” Mr Ayrault told France 2 television during the evening news. “When (he) told the National Assembly he never had an account, not today, not in the past, it was a solemn moment. Why would we not have believed him?”
Mr Ayrault also called on Mr Cahuzac “to no longer hold any political responsibilities”.
Mr Cahuzac had dismissed a report in December by French investigative news website Mediapart that he held an undisclosed account at the Swiss bank UBS until the start of 2010.
Mediapart alleged that Mr Cahuzac then closed the account and shifted the undisclosed sums to "another tax haven in Asia".
It had released a recording of a telephone call in which a male voice it claimed was Mr Cahuzac can be heard saying: "What bothers me is that I've still got this account open at UBS. UBS is not necessarily the most hidden of banks."
Last month, a legal investigation was opened into the tax fraud accusations. The probe for "fiscal fraud" did not name Mr Cahuzac, but the public prosecutor said the recorded voice was "probably" his and that it had been recognised by three witnesses.
The minister resigned hours later "for the good of the government", protesting his innocence.
Following his confession, he was formally charged with "laundering the proceeds of tax fraud", which carries a maximum prison term of five years.
The opposition Right seized on the news, in particular pointing to Mr Hollande's pledge that he would promote an "irreproachable republic".
"I find it hard to believe that Hollande and (prime minister Jean-Marc) Ayrault didn't know about this," said Christian Jacob, head of the Right-wing UMP's parliamentary group.
Edwy Plenel, head of Mediapart, said on Twitter: "Jérôme Cahuzac and the slur on the nation; When will our democracy finally learn to live in truth?"
With the opposition Right demanding to know how much Mr Hollande knew before yesterday’s confession, Le Canard Enchaîné reported that the president had been aware “since Christmas” that the voice on the tax fraud tape was very likely that of Mr Cahuzac.

 

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France's former budget minister admits lying about secret offshore account
Jérôme Cahuzac plunges Hollande's government into crisis after shock confession to hiding €600,000 for more than 20 years

The French government is in crisis after François Hollande's former budget minister and tax tsar was charged with tax fraud following a shock confession that he had held a secret foreign bank account for 20 years and had repeatedly lied about it.

Jérôme Cahuzac's sudden admission that he hid €600,000 (£510,000) offshore for more than two decades is the biggest scandal to hit Hollande's presidency.

The public admission by the man who led France's fight against tax evasion that he secretly defrauded the taxman and was "caught in a spiral of lies" is a huge embarrassment for Hollande, who promised that his government would be beyond reproach after the corruption allegations that dogged previous French administrations.

Until last month, Cahuzac, 60, a former MP and cardiologist who became a plastic surgeon specialising in hair transplants, was Hollande's budget minister leading a crusade against tax fraudsters and tax havens. He had the crucial task of streamlining the budget and running Hollande's crackdown on rich individuals who would be made to pay a bigger share of the tax burden.

In December last year, the investigative website Mediapart reported that Cahuzac had held an undisclosed account at the Swiss bank UBS for 20 years and had travelled to Geneva to close it and transfer the money to Singapore just before he was made head of the parliamentary finance commission in February 2010.

The site published a recording in which Cahuzac allegedly told his wealth manager of his embarrassment over the Swiss account in 2000. A voice said to be Cahuzac's says in the recording: "What bothers me is that I still have an account open with UBS – UBS is not necessarily the most hidden of banks."

For the four months since, Cahuzac had repeatedly sworn he had no hidden account, taking libel action against Mediapart, swearing before parliament that he had "never had an account abroad" and taking to the airwaves to issue strong denials while continuing to lead France's clampdown on tax evasion.

Two weeks ago, when judges opened a preliminary inquiry into the account and his own possible tax evasion, he finally resigned but insisted he was innocent. Hollande applauded his resignation to "better defend his honour".

But on Tuesday, Cahuzac asked to see the investigating judges and then issued his shock confession via his blog, announcing that he was sorry for lying. He said the hidden account did exist but he did not say which country it was in.

"I was caught in a spiral of lies and I did wrong," he wrote. "I ask the president, the prime minister, my former colleagues in the government, to forgive me for the damage I have caused them." He said he was "devastated by remorse".

His lawyer said he had been placed under formal investigation for allegedly laundering the proceeds of tax fraud.

French Socialist MPs reacted with shock to what was a huge blow to the credibility of the French political class. Hollande described Cahuzac's actions as an "unforgivable moral error". The prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said "lies are not acceptable in democracy" and rushed to appear on the prime-time news to limit the damage.

Pascal Durand, head of the Green party, which has two ministers in government, said "Mr Cahuzac's lie was a lie of state" which "discredits the collective word of politicians".

Jean-François Copé, head of the rightwing UMP party, called for Hollande to address the nation to explain how much he knew.

 

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Junior Minister for the Budget at the Ministry of the Economy, Finance, and External Trade

Jérôme Cahuzac (born in Talence on 19 June 1952) is a French politician who, until his appointment as Junior Minister for the Budget at the Ministry of the Economy, Finance, and External Trade by President François Hollande on 16 May 2012, was a member of the National Assembly of France where he represented the 3rd constituency of Lot-et-Garonne on behalf of the Socialist Party.[1] He resigned as a Minister on 19 March 2013 due to tax fraud allegations but insisted he was innocent.[2] He finally admitted on 2 April via his blog that he had held a secret foreign bank account for about 20 years.

 

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French ex-minister admits lying about bank account

April 2, 2013 RSS Feed Print

By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday decried an "unforgiveable moral error" by his former budget minister, who has jolted France's body politic by admitting on his blog to having lied about a once-secret foreign bank account.

Authorities filed preliminary charges against Jerome Cahuzac, a former plastic surgeon-turned-politician, for alleged money laundering, a spokeswoman for Paris prosecutors said. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and a 375,000 euro ($481,500) fine.

After months of denials, Cahuzac wrote on his blog that he had told investigating judges he had a foreign bank account for 20 years. Calls by The Associated Press to his lawyer and to colleagues were not returned and he could not directly be reached for comment. Cahuzac, who had long criticized the use of overseas tax havens, quit the government last month as the scandal swelled.

On his blog, www.jerome-cahuzac.com, the former minister wrote that he had taken steps to repatriate 600,000 euros worth of holdings now in the account.

Cahuzac also made a thorough mea culpa, expressing regret to his colleagues, supporters and all French, and asking Hollande, the prime minister and former colleagues for "forgiveness for the damage I have caused them." Fellow Socialists expressed disappointment and betrayal, and rival conservatives pounced: At least two scolded the Socialists for having lectured the political right on morality issues in the past.

Top government officials swung into crisis-management mode. Hollande's office said in a statement that the president "noted the admission of Jerome Cahuzac with great severity," and regretted how he "committed an unforgiveable moral error" with his public denials — including on the floor of parliament.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said he spoke to Cahuzac on Tuesday, and that the former budget minister admitted to him that he had been dishonest.

"With sadness and dismay, I learn the truth. This truth is cruel: Jerome Cahuzac lied," Ayrault said. "He acknowledged holding an undeclared bank account abroad. He has just made these facts public — these facts are serious ... Now, Jerome Cahuzac is alone in the face of his responsibilities. He must now answer to the justice system."

When the scandal first broke, Cahuzac said solemnly in the National Assembly: "I never had a foreign account, not now, not before. I deny these accusations." But in the blog posting Tuesday, a far less combative Cahuzac wrote: "I was caught in a spiral of lie and I lost my way. I am devastated with remorse."

The scandal couldn't have come at a worse time for Hollande, whose poll numbers have sunk in recent months, largely over concerns about his handling of France's gloomy economic picture and double-digit jobless rate. He had surged to victory over conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in the presidential race in May, in part by pledging greater ethics in government: Sarkozy's own budget minister, Eric Woerth, had resigned in another scandal.

Cahuzac had garnered Hollande's trust as a point man to help boost tax revenues as France battles a lackluster economy and growing budget deficit.

Cahuzac, a sharp-speaking former hair-transplant specialist, had made his name as budget minister by singling out corporate multinational tax dodgers, citizens who live abroad to avoid taxes, and those within France who stash money in overseas accounts. The issue struck a chord among many French as the government looks for ways to trim a swollen budget deficit.

Paris prosecutors opened a judicial investigation last month into a case of alleged laundering of money gained through tax fraud centering on Cahuzac, though investigators had not yet turned up enough evidence to charge him by name. That prompted Cahuzac's resignation — making him the first minister to leave the 10-month-old Socialist government.

The online journal Mediapart broke the story in December, alleging that Cahuzac had transferred money from a Swiss account into another in Singapore. It produced a recording that it said was of Cahuzac's voice talking about his secret account. Mediapart said the recording, dating back more than a decade, turned up — apparently accidentally and unbeknownst to Cahuzac — on the voice mail system of someone he knew.

Cahuzac, who garnered a hand-shake from Ayrault and a pat-on-the-back from a colleague after his fervent speech of self-defense in the National Assembly, repeated his denials on French TV and radio interviews. He also filed a defamation suit against Mediapart.

Ayrault, the prime minister, defended the role of a free press in French society and said he had previously had doubts — but no proof — about whether Cahuzac was telling the truth.

"I am deeply hurt for the French people," Ayrault told France-2 TV. "There are sometimes serious individual cases — and this is one."

 

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The Straits Times reported it in today's edition, April 3, 2013 but made no mention of Singapore being the haven for Mr Cahuzac's funds.

Another example The Straits Times is controlled by the state.