French ex-minister 'tried to invest €15m in Swiss fund'

Disgraced former French budget minister Jerome Cahuzac tried to invest some 15 million euros ($19 million) in a Swiss fund in 2009, Swiss public television network RTS reported Sunday. "He is thought to have tried to invest this money in a financial management firm in Geneva, but the establishment is believed to have refused for fear of future complications, Jerome Cahuzac being a politically prominent figure," RTS said on its website, citing unidentified banking sources. The sum was many times bigger than that evoked up to now in connection with Cahuzac, who was charged in France on Tuesday with tax evasion. Cahuzac -- who was responsible for cracking down on tax evasion while minister -- finally admitted to having a foreign bank account after weeks of denials. The 60-year-old announced his resignation on March 19 after prosecutors opened a probe into the account, which held some 600,000 euros ($770,000). On Saturday the Zurich-based Tages Anzeiger said the politician had lied to a Swiss bank by asserting that funds paid into his account had been declared to French tax authorities.