Moscovici handling of Swiss bank account affair questioned

11/04/2013 - 12:16

PARIS (Reuters) - The head of the French parliament's finance committee said on Thursday he disagreed with Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici's handling of a former minister's revelations over a secret Swiss bank account and would seek clarifications.

Opposition conservative Gilles Carrez said in a statement he queried both the manner in which Moscovici had sought details from Swiss authorities over an account held by ex-Budget Minister Jerome Cahuzac, and why he did not also request information from authorities in Singapore, where according to French media some proceeds from the account were transferred.

Cahuzac was put under formal investigation this month for allegedly laundering the proceeds of tax fraud in an affair which has rocked President Francois Hollande's government.

Cahuzac acknowledged he had been "caught in a spiral of lies" over his previous denials of the existence of a Swiss account.

(reporting by Mark John; editing by Ingrid Melander)