Police detain ex-PM in France
Dominique de Villepin was arrested on September 11. He headed the French government in 2005-2007.
The former prime minister was detained after questioning on the controversial case of a group Relais & Chateaux, which owns a chain of luxury hotels and restaurants.
In autumn 2011, former head of the Relais & Chateaux Régis Bulot was arrested, and he was a friend of de Villepin. He was accused of "fraud in an organized criminal group." According to the investigators, Bulot stole € 1.6 million in the time period from 2002 to 2008 by falsification of documents and conducting illegal operations.
The investigation possesses recordings of the telephone conversations between de Villepin and Bulot, informs RBC. In those conversations, the head of the French government forced the new bosses not to inform the police about his friend's frauds.
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