Police question ex-French PM in alleged hotel scam
Sep 11, 2012, 7:04 PM
PARIS (AP) – Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has been questioned by police investigating a suspected financial scam involving a network of luxury hotels.
BFM-TV said Villepin was questioned for seven hours Tuesday about the affair, which centers on a suspected embezzlement scheme by Regis Bulot _ the former head of the Relais & Chateaux chain and a friend of the politician.
Villepin said in a statement that he is “in no way implicated … in this sad affair.”
Bulot, who ran the chain until Dec. 2005, has been charged with fraud for allegedly embezzling some (EURO)1.5 million ($1.92 million).
French daily Le Monde has reported that police suspect Villepin tried to influence judicial inquiries into Bulot.
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