Police officers stand outside the headquarters of the National Anti-fraud Office, where Gims was being questioned, in Ivry-sur-Seine, France, March 27, 2026. STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP
On Friday, March 27, in Paris, it was not a notorious higher-up of organized crime who was arrested, but rather France's top-selling recording artist. Gandhi Djuna, better known by his stage name Gims, was charged with "aggravated money laundering" and "money laundering by an organized group" after 48 hours in police custody; he is suspected of being part of a large money laundering network.
The star, 39, was given conditional release after being charged, with "an obligation to pay bail," but the amount was not specified, according to the National Anti-Organized Crime Prosecutor's Office (PNACO). Two of his "professional associates" were also charged at the same time.
"During the course of the investigation led by the French National Anti-Fraud Office [ONAF], potential links between this international network and several suspects, including Mr. Ghandi Djuna (alias 'Gims'), have emerged," the PNACO said in a statement released Friday evening and signed by Vanessa Perrée, the national anti-organized crime prosecutor. "These links concern, in particular, suspicions of the use of funds from illicit sources for major real estate investments abroad; the laundering of funds from illegal activities; and the concealment of their origin," the statement added.
