Former French Prime Minister Faces Charges in Corruption Scandal
Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin was in police custody today after being arrested in connection with a corruption scandal.
The 58-year-old has been implicated in a fraud enquiry centered on the prestigious Relais & Chateaux (R&C) hotel and restaurant club.
Regis Bulot, 64, a former senior manager at R&C, spent seven months in prison this year while waiting trial over the alleged theft of 1 million pounds through over-charging for the club’s guidebooks, which are available all over Britain.De Villepin is a close personal friend of Bulot. The close friends and their families have often holidayed together in R&C hotels all over the world.
Now transcripts of telephone conversations have emerged from late 2011 which are said to prove De Villepin tried to stop R&C’s new management from proceeding with court action against Bulot.
There are also suspicions that some of the money siphoned away from R&C may have been used to fund De Villepin’s political career.
Bulot has admitted to receiving illegal cash payments but denies involvement in any illicit political financing.
De Villepin admits going to see the new R&C management about his friend, but insists it was at their invitation.
‘I have strictly nothing to feel bad about,’ he said before his arrest. ‘To try and implicate me in a story in which I have nothing do with is unbearable.’
The scandal also follows former president Jacques Chirac receiving a suspended prison sentence for fraud last year.
Nicolas Sarkozy, Chirac’s successor, is also facing allegations that he received illegal cash payments from Lilliane Bettencourt, France’s richest women.
Both Chirac and Sarkozy were once close cabinet allies of De Villepin, a fellow conservative, but they have since all fallen out.
Police confirmed that Mr De Villepin was being questioned at a station in central Paris following a request by judges sitting in Strasbourg, eastern France. He can be held for up to 48 hours before being charged or released.Read more of the story at Daily Mail
