Bernard Laporte was arrested for laundering money from tax fraud.

The president of the French Rugby Federation (FFR), Bernard Laporte, who has been suspended for three weeks, was arrested by the police on Tuesday (January 24th) for aggravated tax fraud, the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) said.

According to the newspaper team, who spread the information, two more people were arrested. The Forensic Finance Investigation Service (SEJF) was entrusted with the investigations, which began in August 2020.

The current vice president of FFR wants to “embody the end of things.”

It is a separate case from the one that brought Mr. Laporte to the Paris Criminal Court in late 2022. The president of the FFR was indeed sentenced at first instance to a two-year suspended prison sentence, a fine of €75,000 and a two-year ban from holding any function related to rugby for, among other things, passive corruption, influence peddling and illegal acquisition of interests.

The former sports minister’s accusations come a day after the start of a vote, from Monday to Thursday, for amateur rugby clubs to confirm – or not – the appointment of Patrick Buisson as deputy president of the FFR. The current vice-president of the federation, whose name was proposed by Bernard Laporte (in accordance with the federal statute), confirmed last week that he wants “Finish Your End of Business”.