The former president of the Louvre museum in France has been charged over alleged antiquities trafficking.

The preliminary charges against Jean-Luc Martinez relate to money laundering and fraud accusations while he was head of the famous Paris institution.

Police charged him on Wednesday with “complicity in organised fraud” and money laundering.

Two of his former colleagues in the Louvre’s Egyptian antiquities department were also taken into custody this week, but released without charges.

The Paris prosecutor’s office did not confirm French media reports that the three men were suspected of taking part in the trafficking of priceless heritage pieces.

According to newspaper Le Canard Enchaine, investigators were looking into whether Mr Martinez “turned a blind eye” to false certificates of provenance for five Egyptian antiquities for tens of millions of euros.

Mr Martinez stepped down last year as the Louvre’s president, a post he had held since 2013.

He now serves as an ambassador for international cooperation in the field of heritage, while the museum’s current president is Laurence de Cars.

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