Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Europe

French tax fraud trial portrays example of 'world plague'

Associated Press
Published | Updated
  • 3d2ca078-
    Image 1 of 3

    Former French budget Minister Jerome Cahuzac, center, with one of his lawyer Jean Veil, right, is escorted by French Gendarmes as he leaves the courthouse, in Paris, Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016. Cahuzac appeared in a Paris court on charges of tax fraud and money laundering that saw him resign in 2013 in one of the biggest political scandals under President Francois Hollande. The prosecutor asked the judge Wednesday to sentence Cahuzac to three years in prison. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) (The Associated Press)

  • 371be29f-
    Image 2 of 3

    Former French budget Minister Jerome Cahuzac leaves the courthouse, in Paris, Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016. Cahuzac appeared in a Paris court on charges of tax fraud and money laundering that saw him resign in 2013 in one of the biggest political scandals under President Francois Hollande. The prosecutor asked the judge Wednesday to sentence Cahuzac to three years in prison. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) (The Associated Press)

  • c7d11f11-
    Image 3 of 3

    Former French budget Minister Jerome Cahuzac leaves the courthouse, in Paris, Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016. Cahuzac appeared in a Paris court on charges of tax fraud and money laundering that saw him resign in 2013 in one of the biggest political scandals under President Francois Hollande. The prosecutor asked the judge Wednesday to sentence Cahuzac to three years in prison. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) (The Associated Press)

PARIS – Prosecutors have asked a French court to send a former French budget minister to prison for tax fraud and to set an example of a necessary fight against a "world plague."

The two-week trial of Jerome Cahuzac on charges of tax fraud and money laundering ended Thursday in a Paris court. The judge set a December 8 date for the verdict.

During closing arguments, France's top financial prosecutor, Eliane Houlette, asked the court to sentence Cahuzac to three years in prison for inflicting a "major harm to France" and "making it the laughing stock of the entire world."

Cahuzac is accused of hiding his wealth in tax havens around the world — while at the same time leading the government's fight against tax evasion.

He was forced to resign in 2013.,