By Matthew Dalton and Inti Landauro 

PARIS -- French police this week detained for questioning two employees of luxury goods maker LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton in connection with a probe of a security consultant who is suspected by investigators of trafficking in sensitive law-enforcement information.

A former senior police official and the security consultant under investigation were also detained for questioning, an official with the Paris prosecutor's office said.

The investigation centers on Bernard Squarcini, who had headed France's powerful domestic security agency under former President Nicolas Sarkozy and now runs a security consulting firm called Krynos. Prosecutors are investigating whether Mr. Squarcini handed over confidential information supplied by his contacts in law enforcement to paying clients of Krynos, the official said.

In one case dating from 2013, prosecutors are looking into allegations that Mr. Squarcini provided confidential information from an investigation to LVMH, which was embroiled in a dispute with rival luxury group Hermès International SCA.

An LVMH spokesman declined to comment. A lawyer for Mr. Squarcini didn't respond to requests for comment.

Write to Matthew Dalton at Matthew.Dalton@wsj.com and Inti Landauro at inti.landauro@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 27, 2016 15:29 ET (19:29 GMT)