Sarkozy indicted in L'Oréal case
The former French president was formally charged on Thursday by a Bordeaux judge with "abuse of vulnerability" against Liliane Bettencourt, France's richest woman, to secure funding for his 2007 presidential campaign.
247 With international agencies - Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was formally charged on Thursday by a judge in Bordeaux, France, with "abusing the vulnerability" of the owner of L'Oreal to obtain financing for his 2007 presidential campaign.
The formal investigation aims to establish whether Sarkozy financially exploited the vulnerability of Liliane Bettencourt, 90, who is the richest woman in France. Liliane reportedly suffers from Alzheimer's disease and is under judicial protection.
Sarkozy denies the allegations.
On Tuesday, the judge ordered him to meet with Bettencourt's former butler for a confrontation, with the aim of clarifying how many times he visited the L'Oreal heiress. According to the French newspaper "Le Monde", there were at least 31 meetings with key figures in the case.
In 2010, a former treasurer of Liliane, Claire Thibout, claimed to have received orders from Patrice de Maistre – the fortune manager who was temporarily imprisoned in 2011 – to withdraw 150 euros intended for Éric Woerth, treasurer of Sarkozy's 2007 campaign. According to "Le Monde," in 2008, shortly after a meeting with Sarkozy, then president, Maistre withdrew 2 million euros from Liliane's accounts in Switzerland.