Son of French minister Fabius held in money-laundering case

Thomas Fabius, the oldest son of French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, was being held for questioning on Tuesday in a forgery and money-laundering investigation, a source close to Thomas Fabius said.

Thomas Fabius, the oldest son of French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, was being held for questioning on Tuesday in a forgery and money-laundering investigation, a source close to Thomas Fabius said.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius reacts during the questions to the government session at the National Assembly in Paris, France, December 15, 2015. (REUTERS)

A court source also said his Paris apartment has been searched by police.

In June 2013, the French judiciary opened an investigation into Thomas Fabius’s acquisition in 2012 of a 280-square-metre (3,000 square feet) apartment in Paris’ seventh arrondissement for 7 million euros, the court source said. In 2012, the judiciary also opened a separate investigation into an attempted forgery.

Thomas Fabius had not been questioned before in either case, the source close to him said.

His father won acclaim last week for his smooth leadership of the United Nations climate conference in Paris, where nearly 200 nations agreed to reduce global warming.