Police detain ex-PM in France

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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