Chirac To Be Grilled Over ‘Fake Jobs’ Plot
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
PARIS — Jacques Chirac will be questioned by judges investigating a party funding scam that occurred when he was the mayor of Paris, his lawyer said yesterday.
Jean Veil said the former French president would be interviewed as an “assisted witness,” which means that he could later be charged.
“For the period up to 1995 when he was elected president, he was a citizen like any other, and he will answer all questions in all the cases that may concern him,” Mr. Veil told Europe 1 radio.
Mr. Veil did not give a date for the summons but said it would be before September 15.
The “fake jobs” investigation centers on allegations that members of Mr. Chirac’s Rally for the Republic Party (RPR) had their salaries paid by Paris City Hall or the private companies to which it awarded contracts.
Mr. Chirac’s ally, Alain Juppe, a former prime minister, was convicted for his role in the affair in 2004. He was banned from politics for a year. Mr. Chirac was Paris mayor between 1977 and 1995. He could be questioned in three other cases relating to his time there.
