French foreign minister's son wanted over $3.5 million Las Vegas gambling spree

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French foreign minister's son wanted over $3.5 million Las Vegas gambling spree

Thomas Fabius is the object of an arrest warrant in Nevada for taking money and gambling chips in exchange for several bad cheques in Las Vegas casinos the day before his father Laurent became French foreign minister.

Thomas Fabius amassed heavy losses during his gambling binge in a string of Las Vegas casinos Photo: Rex

By Henry Samuel, Paris
6:21PM GMT 30 Oct 2015

The playboy son of France’s foreign minister faces arrest in America for spending $3.5m (£2.3m) in a Las Vegas gambling frenzy only for the casinos to see his cheques bounce.

Nevada state court has issued an arrest warrant following a criminal complaint over several bad cheques Thomas Fabius wrote to three casinos on 15 May 2012 - the day before his father, Laurent Fabius, officially became foreign minister in President François Hollande’s Socialist government.

The affair, which only broke in France on Thursday night, has rekindled Gallic fascination for Mr Fabius’ “enfant terrible”, whose penchant for gambling and the high life has been the only blot in his dour father's otherwise exemplary political rebirth.

Las Vegas

According to the court filings from April 2013, Thomas Fabius amassed heavy losses during his gambling binge in a string of Las Vegas casinos, and passed bad cheques from three different bank accounts, from $100,000 to $1 million, to obtain cash or gaming chips totalling about $3.5 million.

He faces three criminal counts for passing a check with intent to defraud, and three counts of theft.

As a result of the warrant, issued in May 2013, Mr Fabius junior risks arrest if he sets foot in the United States, a spokesman for Nevada's Clark County confirmed on Friday.

French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius

This is not the first brush with the law for Laurent Fabius’ wayward son, whose playboy antics saw Paris Match splash him on its front cover in 2013 waving a €500 (£360) bank note in one glitzy night club.

The 33-year-old is currently banned from frequenting casinos in France, where Société Générale bank filed a legal complaint against him in 2011 for writing a false email in its name in order to secure credit in a casino in Marrakesh. He was then cited in a preliminary inquiry into fraud and money laundering launched in June 2013. Detectives’ wanted to know how he spent €7 million on a palatial 3,000-foot flat in Paris.

He insisted it was paid for with €8 million in gambling winnings he amassed in 2011-12 in Monaco, America and Cyprus after spending €13 in casinos. But France’s financial fraud squad cited the “dubious provenance of funds” via certain UK-based gambling clubs. It also questioned the affluent lifestyle of the failed businessman - a regular in Saint Tropez night spots and Le Fouquets, a glitzy club on the Champs Elysées.

Le Fouquets

Earlier this year, Tracfin, the French financial investigations body, reportedly tracked an undeclared transfer from the swiss bank account of Thomas Fabius’ aunt for €316,000.

France has an enduring fascination for the children of its political leaders and celebrities, which came to the fore most prominently with the shock discovery in the mid-1990s that François Mitterrand, the late Socialist president, had a secret love child.

Thomas Fabius was born to a wealthy family of antiques and art dealers. In 2013, his father declared net assets of more than €6 million, including three houses and a €1.2 million stake in the Piasa auction house.

After abandoning plans to study at the prestigious HEC business school, in 2004, the 24-year old Thomas founded People and Baby, a company running crèches in businesses.

At the time, he said: “My name is a comparative advantage. At first, it sparks my potential clients’ curiosity and opens doors. That’s the good side of the status of being a ‘child of’.”

But he went on: “The bad side is that I’ll remain a ‘son of’ as long as I haven’t forged my own legitimacy.”

Soon after his business foundered, he was spotted beside models a good head taller than him at film festivals, clubs and the French Open. He also became an assiduous poker and roulette player. On one New Year’s Eve, he reportedly won €3 million in the Monte Carlo casino and left a €20,000 tip to the croupiers.

Monte Carlo casino

For a short while, he co-presented a TV programme on VIPs and toyed with appearing on the French version of reality show I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. Then in 2009, he then became embroiled in a failed joint venture to sell chip and pin cards in Africa. Two years later, he pleaded guilty to embezzling funds and was fined €15,000, but escaped a criminal record.

While the ongoing investigations have failed to tarnish Laurent Fabius, on Friday, the far-Right Front National called for his resignation, saying the US arrest warrant risked “perturbing the actions of a minister who has very regular discussions and negotiations with America on crucial issues”.

Mr Fabius is not the first French politician to have to deal with turbulent offspring of late.

Marisol Touraine, the current health minister, faced humiliation after her son was jailed in 2013 for extortion.