French Foreign Minister’s Son in Custody over Fraud Probe
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Thomas Fabius, the "enfant terrible" of France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, was taken into custody on Tuesday as part of a probe into forgery, fraud and money laundering, police sources told AFP.
His lawyer, Cyril Bonan, confirmed that Fabius, 34, was in custody but declined to give further details.
A preliminary investigation into Fabius's financial affairs was opened in France in 2013, with police particularly interested in his purchase of a seven-million-euro ($7.6 million) Paris apartment.
A police source said the apartment, which was searched Tuesday, had raised alarms over money laundering.
Fabius, who heads a financial consulting firm, is the eldest son of the French foreign minister. Often photographed at high-flying parties, he is notorious for his alleged gambling sprees.
Earlier this year, French weekly Le Point reported that Fabius was wanted by US authorities over unpaid casino bills.
According to police in the state of Nevada, Fabius wrote bad cheques totaling more than $3.5 million to cover gambling debts incurred on the night of May 15, 2012 – just hours before his father was officially appointed France's foreign minister.
As a result of an arrest warrant issued in May 2013, the younger Fabius risks arrest if he sets foot anywhere in the US, a spokesman for Nevada's Clark County told AFP.
News of the custody on Tuesday came as Laurent Fabius received a standing ovation in the French parliament for his role in brokering a deal at the COP21 Paris climate summit last week.
