French budget minister resigns from parliament

France's disgraced former budget minister Jerome Cahuzac has resigned from parliament, officials close to the speaker of France's National Assembly Claude Bartolone told AFP Thursday. Cahuzac, who is facing charges of tax fraud, tendered his resignation to Bartolone after telling French television BFMTV on Tuesday that his "moral mistake" meant he would have to quit parliament, and potentially politics. The former minister, who fought against tax evasion during his tenure in charge of the budget, admitted having a secret foreign bank account following weeks of denials. The ensuing scandal has shaken Francois Hollande's Socialist government and the squeaky-clean image the French president wanted to promote. Cahuzac initially denied allegations by French investigative news website Mediapart that he had funds in a Swiss bank account. But he did a U-turn when prosecutors opened an official probe into the undeclared overseas account said to contain around 600,000 euros ($770,000). He resigned from the government on March 19 but, under French law, could have got his seat back in the lower house this week, had he chosen to.