The son of the French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, has been taken into custody for police questioning in Paris as part of an investigation into forgery, fraud and money laundering, reports The Guardian.
A preliminary inquiry into Thomas Fabius’s financial affairs was opened in France in 2013, with police paying particular attention to his purchase of a €7m (£5m) Paris flat, and how he funded it.
A police source told Agence France-Presse the acquisition of the 285 sq metre flat in a smart area of the French capital had raised concerns over potential money laundering. It was searched by officers on Tuesday.
Thomas Fabius’s lawyer confirmed he was in custody but would not comment further.
When the inquiry was opened two years ago, Fabius’s lawyer told French media the apartment had been paid for by “a deposit and a bank loan”.
Fabius, 34, who has long made headlines in France as an “enfant terrible”, is wanted in the US for allegedly writing cheques that bounced at a Las Vegas casino. He wrote cheques for more than $3.5m (£2.3m) to cover gambling debts on one night in May 2012, the day before his father became foreign minister, according to a Nevada arrest warrant seen by AFP. He could be arrested immediately if he sets foot on US soil.
Fabius is the foreign minister’s eldest son. He was three when his father, a leading Socialist, was named prime minister in 1984.