Financial Times Information
Global News Wire
Abstracted from Le Monde in French
Le Monde
July 18, 2001
SECTION: Pg. 7
LENGTH: 135 words
HEADLINE: NICE TAX OFFICE CONDEMNS FREEMASONS' ROLE IN MONEY-LAUNDERING (LE RESPONSABLE DU FISC A NICE DENONCE UNE "INFILTRATION" MACONNIQUE)
BODY:
Alain Bertaux, director of the Alpes-Maritime region tax office, has condemned what he calls "networks of influence in the administration he manages".
Giving evidence on 14 June to a French parliamentary enquiry into money laundering in Europe, Mr Bertaux described how this process operates on the French Riviera.
He went on to say that there were numerous problems in the way his office operated - most of which are due to the influence of the Freemasons.
He also claimed to have "collected proof" of this infiltration.
On 12 July, the parliamentary enquiry's rapporteur,
the socialist MP Arnaud Montebourg, sent Mr Bertaux's
declarations to the Nice public prosecutor, Eric de Montgolfier. Alain
Bertaux has been head of the Alpes-Maritime tax office
since 1998.
Further Reading
Freemasonry in France, Belgium (E.U.), Monaco and French Africa