Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy appears in court
On November 22, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy had to appear before a court in Bordeaux to answer questions related to...
On November 22, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy had to appear before a court in Bordeaux to answer questions related to the tax evasion scandal and illegal election funding of Liliane Bettencourt - the heiress to the famous cosmetics company L'Oreal and the richest woman in France.
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy
Questions raised by the judges revolved around 150,000 euros that a former accountant for Ms Bettencourt told investigators was given to Eric Woerth, who managed Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 election campaign.
Wearing a gray Renault suit, former President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived at court at 9:15 a.m., 15 minutes earlier than the court's request. The former President was presided over by Judge Jean-Michel Gentil. AFP reported that Nicolas Sarkozy was asked to answer two questions. The first was about the amount of money that Liliane Bettencourt donated to his 2007 presidential campaign and whether this amount exceeded the regulations on campaign fundraising.
Nicolas Sarkozy's idyllic days are being plagued by five different allegations.
It is known that the scandal surrounding Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 election campaign began to become serious in 2010 when Claire Thibout, a former accountant of Liliane Bettencourt, confirmed to the investigation agency that she had been asked to prepare 150,000 euros in cash to give to Patrice de Maistre, a close associate of Liliane Bettencourt.
Patrice de Maistre then transferred the money to Eric Woerth, the campaign manager of Nicolas Sarkozy. This amount far exceeded the 4,600 euro threshold for individual donations to an election campaign. The results of the French police investigation also showed that, between 2007 and 2009, Patrice de Maistre withdrew money from Liliane Bettencourt's Swiss bank accounts seven times, totaling 4 million euros.
It is suspected that some or all of this money was given to Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy or the former President's UMP party. Meanwhile, some of the billionaire's former employees, including her driver, nurse and housekeeper, claimed that Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy secretly visited the Bettencourt residence at least twice before the 2007 presidential election...
It is worth mentioning that in addition to this accusation, the former French President is currently being sued by the anti-corruption organization Anticor for misusing public funds, spending public money to pay for referendums with the aim of enhancing his reputation as well as seeking voters' support in his relationship with his wife Carla Bruni.
This was followed by accusations of receiving 50 million euros from the Libyan government after evidence emerged that Nicolas Sarkozy had visited the country in 2007. The former president was also accused of being involved in a submarine sale between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in the early 90s, which involved campaign funding that led to the defeat of Edouard Balladur in the 1995 presidential election...
Another allegation against the former President that is also causing a stir in French public opinion is the accusation by Ms. Guillaume Marie-Celie in her new book, “The Monarch, His Son, His Fiefdom,” that Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy once asked his subordinates “some sexual things.” So far, the former French President has always denied these allegations, asserted his innocence and declared his willingness to cooperate with the investigation agency.
According to ConganND-M
