Jerome Cahuzac was the face of France’s fight against tax evaders — until he was forced to acknowledge that he himself was dodging taxes, hiding money in tax havens around the world.

Millions of emails and leaked records from offshore tax havens have exposed the identities of thousands of holders of offshore accounts, including the family of the president of Azerbaijan and French president François Hollande’s former campaign treasurer, The Guardian and Le Monde newspapers reported.

The French budget minister has resigned amid a ballooning scandal over suspected tax fraud and money laundering centring on him, President Francois Hollande’s office says.

The French government will shelve €1 billion of planned spending this year, on top of a three-year spending freeze that kicks in in 2013, said Budget Minister Jerome Cahuzac.