French comic behind the anti-semitic ‘quenelle’ salute has £500,000 in CASH removed from his property in money laundering raid

ByPeter Allen PUBLISHED:          11:52  EST, 29 January 2014

Anelka faces a five match ban for performing  Dieudonne’s ‘quenelle’ gesture – a hand and arm movement which some say is a  reverse Nazi salute.

More than half a million pounds in allegedly  laundered cash has been found in the home of the French comic at the centre of  the Nicolas Anelka anti-Semitism scandal.

It comes as Dieudonne M’bala M’bala, 47,  prepares to travel to the UK so that he can support the West Bromwich Albion  footballer.

Anelka faces a five match ban for performing  Dieudonne’s ‘quenelle’ gesture – a hand and arm movement which some say is a  reverse Nazi salute.

More than half a million pounds in allegedly laundered  cash has been found in the home of Dieudonne M’bala M’bala, 47, (right)   the French comic  at the centre of the Nicolas Anelka (left) anti-Semitism  scandal

Now police have revealed that a total of £660,000 in cash was found in Dieudonne’s house near Paris, and in the theatre  he runs in the French capital.

Dieudonne has been convicted six times for  defamation, and is suspected of hiding his money   to avoid paying his  fines.

Official searches on Tuesday were sanctioned  by a French magistrate investigating money laundering and false tax  declarations.

A gendarme stands guard as police search the house  belonging to the controversial French comic

Investigators also believe that Dieudonne has  sent the equivalent of more than £380,000 in cash to Cameroon, where his  extended family live, since 2009.

And they allege that a production company  owned by his wife, Noemie Montagne, bought one of his properties for £450,000 in  cash, when he owed the government £740,000.

But Diedonne’s lawyer, Jacques Verdier, said  the French were involved in an ‘organised hunt for Dieudonne’.

A French policeman stands guard outside the Theatre de  la Main d’Or during a warranted police search on the premises in Paris

Mr Verdier said his client was by  no  means anti-Semitic and ‘does not support the Third Reich.’

Anelka has been charged by the Football  Association with making a gesture which is considered abusive or indecent – an  offence which carries a minimum five-game ban.

Last week, Anelka denied the charge and  requested a personal hearing to defend his case.

Dieudonne’s last visit to Britain was in  2010, when he appeared in front of a large of audience of mainly French  expatriates at a London theatre.

He argues that his act is full of risque  humour about a range of minority groups, including black people and  Muslims.

Dieudonne, who was brought up as a Christian, said  that one of the reasons Anelka is being made a scapegoat in Britain is because  he is a black Muslim who drives a Ferrari.

Uproar: Anelka’s gesture, the quenelle, has caused  conflict in the UK and France over whether it is racist

Controversial: Here anti-Dieudonne M’bala M’bala  protesters are seen on the streets of Paris on January 16

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2548173/French-comic-anti-semitic-quenelle-salute-500-000-CASH-removed-property-money-laundering-raid.html#ixzz2rsYXRPJj

Excellente! There’s more than one way to skin a cat or a comic!