Former French President Jacques Chirac underwent four hours of questioning yesterday by a judge investigating a fake jobs scam alleged to have profited his conservative party when he ran Paris City Hall.
In a newspaper column, Mr Chirac did not directly address his alleged role in the funding scandal, but said he would tell judges that all political parties had languished in a legal no-man's land over party financing rules until the mid-1990s.
Mr Chirac was interviewed as an "assisted witness" in the former president's private offices in Paris yesterday morning, said a Chirac spokesman. The "assisted witness" status means he could later become the subject of a "formal investigation" if new evidence emerges.
Mr Chirac, who lost his immunity from prosecution on June 16, one month after leaving office, has consistently denied any wrongdoing during his 18 years as Paris mayor.