French President Francois Hollande (centre) is applauded as he arrives to deliver a speech at the Moroccan parliament in Rabat, yesterday.
RABAT: French President Francois Hollande insisted yesterday that he would go all the way to clean up politics in the state after an ex-budget minister was charged in a tax fraud probe linked to his secret foreign bank account.
He stressed that the French government itself was not involved in the scandal but “one man who failed”. “I will go all the way on these questions because I have nothing to fear from the strict application of the laws that exist and the application of the new laws” announced, Hollande said at a news conference here.
“To be clear... it is not the government that is being challenged, it is one man who failed.” The man in question, Jerome Cahuzac, was charged on Tuesday with “laundering the proceeds of tax fraud” after he admitted to having an undeclared foreign bank account containing some ¤600,000.
Adding to Hollande’s woes, Le Monde newspaper reported yesterday that his campaign treasurer for last year’s presidential vote had joint ownership of two firms registered in the Cayman Islands, a well-known tax haven.
Hollande, who is on a two-day visit to Morocco, denied any knowledge of Jean-Jacques Augier’s private business activities. “I know nothing about these activities, and if they do not conform to French tax law, I will ask the administration” to make the “necessary corrections,” he said. AFP
