The Daily Mail UK
written by Staff
Thursday April 4, 2013
- Wealthy publisher Jean-Jacques Augier helped finance Francois Hollande's presidential campaign
- He admits holding shares in two companies registered in the Cayman Islands, but insists 'nothing is illegal'
- Latest embarrassment for Socialist government after it emerged the budget minister had secret Swiss account
A close political ally of French Socialist president Francois Hollande has two accounts in an offshore tax haven, it emerged yesterday.
The embarrassing financial arrangements of Jean-Jacques Augier, who made millions as a publisher, are a fresh blow to a left-wing government committed to sky high taxes for the rich.
It follows the departure of Mr Hollande’s budget minister Jerome Cahuzac after it emerged that he had kept a secret bank account in Switzerland with £500,000.
Now leaked documents have revealed that Mr Augier, who was Mr Hollande’s treasurer during the 2012 presidential campaign, keeps much of his fortune in the Cayman Islands.
Mr Augier, a close friend of the president, admitted to the newspaper Le Monde that he has two offshore accounts, insisting: ‘Nothing is illegal’.
Mr Cahuzac had issued denials to the president and the French public over his Swiss account, leaving Mr Hollande politically exposed.
Jean-Francois Cope, head of the conservative UMP party, said: ‘Either Francois Hollande knew nothing, and that’s extremely serious because it means he showed a certain amount of naivety, or he knew and that means he lied to the French people.’
In a televised address Mr Hollande insisted Mr Cahuzac ‘benefited from no protection other than the presumption of innocence and that he left the government at my request as soon as a judicial inquiry was opened’.
The president pledged a new law within weeks aimed at ‘controlling’ the wealth of ministers, and making it public.
Mr Cahuzac, a political heavyweight, had been specifically asked by Mr Hollande to launch a fight against tax evasion.
He had previously dismissed as ‘crazy’ reports that he held an undisclosed account at the Swiss bank UBS.
The financial arrangements of Jean-Jacques Augier, who made millions as a publisher, are a fresh embarrassment to a left-wing government committed to high taxes for the rich.
It follows the forced resignation of Mr Hollande’s budget minister earlier this week after it emerged that he kept a secret bank account in Switzerland with more than half-a-million pounds stashed away.
Now leaked documents show that Mr Augier, who was Mr Hollande’s treasurer during the 2012 presidential campaign, keeps much of his fortune in the Cayman Islands.
He said the companies, one of which is a distributor based in China, had been set up to form partnerships with foreign entrepreneurs.
They were identified after an investigation into offshore accounts by the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, working in conjunction with a variety of media organisations including Le Monde.
The tax row has rapidly turned into a major crisis for Francois Hollande’s Socialist government after former budget minister Jerome Cahuzac was placed under investigation for fraud and money laundering.
Opposition MPs have already called for the resignation of both Jean-Marc Ayrault, the prime minister, and Pierre Moscovici, the finance minister, as well as a major reshuffle.
Mr Hollandebroadcast a hastily recorded televised address in a desperate bid to contain the widening firestorm.
He insisted Mr Cahuzac ‘benefited from no protection other than the presumption of innocence and that he left the government at my request as soon as a judicial inquiry was opened’.
Mr Hollande pledged a new law within weeks aimed at ‘controlling’ the wealth of ministers, and making it public.
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