Axa bosses charged with money laundering

PARIS - The chairmen of the Axa group's supervisory and management boards, Claude Bebear and Henri de Castries, have both been charged with money laundering with aggravating circumstances by the magistrate investigating the activities of the group's former subsidiary, Luxembourg-based PanEuroLife. The two men were released after being charged but placed under judicial control and ordered to pay FFr2m in bail each. If found guilty, they faced up to 10 years in prison and a fine of FFr5m. It is not clear yet why the two men have been charged in connection with a company which was inherited by Axa from Union des Assurances de Paris and sold a year after the merger between the two groups in November 1997. Banque Worms, which is suspected of having served as intermediary for cash destined to buy PanEuroLife policies, was only recently sold by Axa to Deutsche Bank, however. Its former chief executive, Marc Vuillermet, was also charged on Tuesday.