The French Police are quizzing the country’s richest women, L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, as a part of their investigations into claims that one of her advisers gave envelopes of cash to President Nicolas Sarkozy and Labor Minister Eric Woerth. Both Sarkozy and Woerth have turned down the allegations. A new leaf of controversy was opened when some secret recordings surfaced last month. Many leaders and civil society members called for a high-level probe into the matter.
The recording, allegedly leaked by Bettencourt's butler, includes a reference to a bank account in Switzerland, which has about EUR 80 million and had not been mentioned in tax returned. Bettencourt's lawyer, George Kiejman, confirmed Monday that the heiress was being quizzed by French police at her home in Neuilly, west of Paris. Woerth will also be quizzed by police, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office said last week. The date for questioning hasn’t been fixed yet, she added. Woerth's wife, Florence, was questioned last week, the spokeswoman revealed.
The controversial recordings surfaced last month, claiming that the minister’s was deputy to Bettencourt's financial adviser until June. The recordings are allegedly of conversations between Bettencourt and her financial adviser, Patrice de Maistre. Bettencourt's former book-keeper, Claire Thibout, touched on the allegations in an interview last week. She claimed that she had prepared the envelopes of cash that were given to Sarkozy and Woerth, who previously served at the Budget Ministry and was taking care of reforms to France's retirement system. Thibout's lawyer told French news agency Agence France-Presse this month that de Maistre had once sought EUR 150,000 from one of his clients said he would give it "discreetly" to Woerth at a dinner.
