Ex-French interior minister to be released from prison after repaying state debt

By Shweta Desai

PARIS (AA) - Former French Interior Minister Claude Gueant, imprisoned for embezzling public funds, will be released after having repaid the debt owed to the public treasury, his lawyer announced Monday.

Gueant has repaid the total sum of 292,000 euros ($334,057) due to the state as part of his sentence, his lawyer Philippe Bouchez-El Ghozi told BFMTV. He will be released on Wednesday.

He began his nine-month term at La Sante Prison in Paris in December since he was unable to pay 115,000 euros ($131,564), Ghozi had said.

Gueant, who served as the Presidency's secretary-general and as an interior minister in President Nicolas Sarkozy’s Cabinet, was convicted in 2017 in the "Cabinet bonuses case.” He was found guilty of embezzling public funds worth 210,000 euros ($240,226) along with three other civil servants.

As part of his sentence, the court had ordered him to repay the amount as state damages with the other defendants, along with a fine of 75,000 euros ($85,795).