Top French diplomat fired for wine theft, reports
France’s top diplomat in Hong Kong and Macau was suspended and recalled to Paris last week for stealing two expensive bottles of wine, sources told the AFP news agency.
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French consul-general Marc Fonbaustier, 46, was forced to leave the post after the Chinese government demanded his removal. He started work in the semi-autonomous territory just over a year ago.
Another source in Hong Kong told AFP that the theft occurred at a private members' club.
According to Apple Daily newspaper, the wine was worth 50,000 Hong Kong dollars (4,956 euros).
Police and the French consulate in Hong Kong both declined to comment Tuesday.
On Thursday, the French Foreign Ministry said an "administrative investigation" had begun, adding that Fonbaustier's unspecified actions would "probably not meet the requirements of professional conduct for a French diplomat".
Fonbaustier, who is married with three children, is a graduate of France's top school for civil servants, the Ecole Nationale d'Administration.
He is a former second counsellor at the French embassy in New Delhi.
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