The boss at the centre of the breast implants scandal has been jailed after failing to pay £83,000 to stay on bail.
Police arrested Jean-Claude Mas, 72, at his home in southern France yesterday and took him to prison in Marseilles, it was revealed today.
The Frenchman was charged with causing “involuntary injuries” on January 26 after claims that his Poly Implant Prothese implants contained low-cost industrial gel never tested on humans.
The scare erupted in January when France urged 30,000 women to have implants removed after a spate of ruptures. It then emerged that 40,000 women in Britain and up to half a million more worldwide have PIP implants.
Mas failed to meet the deadline to pay the bail money to the court to remain at liberty, said legal sources. He will remain behind bars until he can pay the bond, they added. French government scientists have revealed Mas’s implants contained chemicals baysilone, silopren and rhodorsil — normally used as fuel additives or in the manufacture of industrial rubber tubing.
Mas has admitted using illegally-obtained, low-cost gel but insisted the product posed no threat to health.
He claims he is bankrupt and unable to pay women seeking damages from his firm, closed two years ago. But police are probing claims he may have hidden assets, including two homes each worth more than £1 million.
