Trial begins of tax dodger Jerome Cahuzac who took on tax evaders in France

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.

President François Hollande’s one-time budget minister is now facing the prospect of prison as his trial — alongside that of his ex-wife and others with whom he had financial dealings — opened.

The 63-year-old is accused of financing a lavish lifestyle by fraudulently concealing €687,000 of income from French tax authorities in 2009-12 and laundering money in 2003-13 through foreign bank accounts based in tax havens including Switzerland, Panama, the Seychelles, and Singapore.