Wife of French mayor absent from start of fraud trial A husband-and-wife team who have long dominated politics in a wealthy suburb of Paris have gone on trial on suspicion of hiding two luxury villas and other assets worth 13 million euros (14.6 million dollars) from the tax authorities. Patrick Balkany, mayor of Levallois-Perret, attended the first day of the trial but his wife Isabelle was absent. Hospitalized since overdosing on prescription medicine in a suspected suicide attempt earlier this month, her lawyer says she wants to attend but suffers from "a kind of right-sided paralysis that makes it absolutely impossible for her to walk." SOUNDBITES (COMPLETES VID1343385_EN, VID1343399_EN ET VID1343475_EN)