Ethics Newsline®

PARIS
Former French president Jacques Chirac was placed under formal investigation last week on suspicion he embezzled public funds by doling out phony contracts while serving as the mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.

The International Herald Tribune reports that a judge examining the case questioned Chirac last week. Additional hearings are expected.

Under French law, a formal investigation consists of a preliminary probe that could lead to charges and a trial, according to the Financial Times.

French law also protects a sitting president from prosecution, a grace period that ended in June when Chirac finished his final term, reports Voice of America.

Chirac has waged a vigorous public defense, including the unusual step of writing a response in Le Monde after receiving his summons.

“Never were the resources of the city of Paris used for anything other than to act on behalf of Parisians,” wrote Chirac, according to a translation of the defense in Forbes. “Never was there any personal enrichment.”
But Chirac did say that the handful of employees that were under scrutiny may have included qualified people “who were going through a difficult time professionally, and to whom I wanted to give another chance.”