Advertisement

French minister denies Swiss account 'rumour'

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
French minister denies Swiss account 'rumour'
French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius. Photo: Frédréric de la Mure

France's Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius on Sunday denied a "rumour" in a newspaper report claiming that he may have a Swiss bank account, as the French government struggles to deal with a scandal over undeclared foreign bank holdings.

Advertisement

"I absolutely deny the rumour, published in the Monday April 8 edition of Libération, claiming I have a bank account in Switzerland," Fabius wrote in a statement.
   
There is no "substance or foundation" to the report, he added.

   
Fabius also announced that he would pursue legal action to "stop the 
diffusion of this false and slanderous information".
   
The headline in Libération read: "A possible Fabius affair petrifies the 
Elysée", referring to the French president's office.
   
In the long article there are no facts showing that France's top diplomat 
has an undeclared foreign bank account.

It simply points out that the Médiapart news website "is exploring this line" of investigation.
   
Médiapart journalist Fabrice Arfi told Libération that the only news 
Médiapart had "is what is published on our website".
   
It was Médiapart that broke the story about former budget minister Jérôme 
Cahuzac having an undeclared bank account in Switzerland.
   
President François Hollande's government has been shaken by the scandal 
which erupted Tuesday after Cahuzac — once in charge of tackling tax evasion — admitted to investigators that he had a foreign account containing some
600,000 euros ($770,000).

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also