MOSCOW (Sputnik) — French prosecutors are seeking a three-year jail term for former French Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry Jerome Cahuzac over tax avoidance and fraud, local media reported Wednesday, 10 days after Cahuzac’s trial began.
According to the prosecution, Cahuzac has "sacrificed all principles for financial gain," Le Monde newspaper reported.
Eliane Houlette, the national financial prosecutor, also reportedly requested a two-year prison term for his ex-wife, Patricia Menard, who has "surpassed" her husband "in concealing his assets from the tax authorities."
Cahuzac was appointed as a minister by French President Francois Hollande in 2012 to introduce tax hikes for wealthy French citizens in order to counter corruption and restore the country’s economy.
However, the former minister was forced to admit in 2013 that he had possessed some $700,000 deposited in a Swiss bank for over 20 years to avoid tax payments.
The legal proceedings into Cahuzac’s tax evasion case opened in February this year.
