Jérôme Cahuzac, the man tapped by François Hollande to wage a campaign against high-income tax evaders as budget minister, went on trial today for tax fraud, of all things.
In 2013, Cahuzac admitted that he himself was ferreting money away from the eyes of the French government for two decades. From 1992 on, Cahuzac had an account with UBS in Switzerland to the tune of €600,000, which he smartly transferred to the far-off shores of Singapore in 2010, according to an exposé penned by Mediapart.
Cahuzac arrived in court today to a swarm of reporters and photographers, some of whom the former minister greeted with the famous face-handshake:
A much better angle, and a far greater gif than we have ever known:
L’arrivée de #Cahuzac au tribunal : après les yeux dans les yeux, la main dans la gueule https://t.co/ROE59g2vWW pic.twitter.com/w5D4zc1zMA
— Libération (@libe) February 8, 2016
Cahuzac turned to politics after a successful career as a cardiologist, plastic surgeon, and “Paris’s leading hair-transplant expert,” according to The Guardian. If convicted, Cahuzac could face a fine of €2 million, up to seven years in prison, and, theoretically, the loss of his circonflexe.
