Former French budget minister Jerome Cahuzac has been placed under formal investigation after admitting to holding a secret bank account, containing around €600,000 (CHF730,000).
Cahuzac apologized for the embarrassment he had caused the French socialist government headed by President Francois Hollande, saying that he was «devastated by remorse».
«I was caught in a spiral of lies and lost my way,» he wrote in a blog on Tuesday, April 2. «It was an unspeakable mistake to think that I could avoid confronting a past that I wanted to consider behind me. I will now face this reality with all transparency.»
While Cahuzac failed to mention the source of the secret funds, it has been widely reported that he had held a UBS account since 2010. Last month, the Geneva prosecutor’s office was asked to assist in the French probe, days after Cahuzac stepped down from office.
Hollande responded to the admission of guilt by calling it an «unpardonable moral error». Cahuzac had been one of the most vocal members of Hollande’s administration in speaking out against tax havens.
The French regime has made a point of targeting tax cheats and announced plans earlier this year to crack down on wealthy citizens who live in Switzerland to avoid higher French taxes.
News of Cahuzac’s alleged secret Swiss bank account was first aired last December by the French investigative website Mediapart. After threatening to sue the website for defamation, Cahuzac made his confession to investigating magistrates on Tuesday.