'Everyone used secret cash, why shouldn't I?'

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/12/03/wfran03.xml&sSheet=/portal/2003/12/03/ixportal.html&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=1621

A French statesman answered charges of money-laundering by saying he only did what "dozens of prime ministers and a certain number of presidents" had done before him.

François Léotard, 61, defence minister from 1993 to 1995, is charged in connection with a £500,000 loan arranged for his now-defunct Republican party.

While denying the charges, he admitted that the money came from "secret funds" - a discretionary cash supply kept by French prime ministers for paying bonuses to cabinet members, among other things.

"I don't believe I did anything illegal," said M Léotard, now retired from political life. "Since 1946, hundreds of ministers, dozens of prime ministers and a certain number of presidents have used secret funds," he said.