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Remy De La Mauviniere / AP, file
Liliane Bettencourt pictured at the Elysee Palace on April 18, 2005.
Former President Nicolas Sarkozy came under formal investigation on Thursday for allegedly taking illegal donations from France’s richest woman when she was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
"Nicolas Sarkozy, who benefits from the presumption of innocence, had been notified that he has been placed under formal investigation for taking advantage of a vulnerable person in February 2007 and during 2007 to the detriment of Liliane Bettencourt," the prosecutor in the southwestern city of Bordeaux said in a statement after a hearing, Reuters reported.
Investigating Judge Jean-Michel Gentil is looking into conflicting accounts of how many times Sarkosy visited the home of Bettencourt, the heiress to the L’Oreal cosmetics fortune in the run-up to his 2007 election victory.
Bettencourt, now 90, was judged to be suffering from dementia in 2006. She has since come under the legal guardianship of her family.
Suspicions surfaced three years ago when a former account to Bettencourt made allegations about large donations from her accounts were directed to Sarkozy's campaign.
Patrick Bernard / AFP - Getty Images
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, center, leaves Bordeaux's courthouse on Thursday after a hearing before a judge over claims he accepted envelopes stuffed with cash from Liliane Bettencourt.
Sarkozy, 57, lost his immunity from prosecution in May when he was defeated in a bid for re-election by Socialist Francois Hollande.
The ex-president has recently seen a surge of popularity in polls and has hinted at running again in 2017. His supporters say the case against him is politically motivated.
The preliminary charges filed on Thursday mean the investigator has probable cause to believe there was a crime, but he could still drop the charges later.
Even if the charges are not proven, he could be under a cloud of suspicion for months or years.
If he is convicted, Sarkozy could face a prison term of up to three years.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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he needs monies for his bunga bunga parties !
...as long as she was willing, there was no swindling.
Pigotry
It states she has Alzheimer's. If she was incompetent, she could not truly be willing.
Even with Alzheimer's, a person can be briefly competent, feeling all the urge to support a cause she believes in, then going dark again (back into her Alzheimer's self).
Pigotry- it would be like you going to a senior rest home and taking money for a bung hole bung hole party.
This is why there are trials, to determine the facts of the case. It does no good to suppose until the facts are known. it just makes noise on the vine.
I don't know that a person with Alzheimer's is in any better position to have good judgement and understand consequences than a 13 year old.
Just a typical politician ..
A person suffering from Alzheimer's is generally not thought of as competent.
Czar Kozy is a Russian Czar?
@ Pigotry
“ Czar Kozy is a Russian Czar?”
not Russian, Hungarian stock.
Russian car is Ras – Putin.
All of the politics I've seen in France are sleazy. Not the French people, just the politics!
It reminds me of Italy too.. What a sleazy bunch of characters in Europe these days!! What's going on?!
Really ? American politicians are not sleazy ? Congress kissing the ass of the NRA and the oil and gas industries, or any industry with deep pockets ? Taking the country to wars we cannot afford on flimsy pretexts, under pressure from the military-industrial complex ? I'd say that's pretty sleazy, wouldn't you ?
Politicians are all crooks, it does not matter which country they are from.
She also had been diagnosed with dementia and ultimately a guardian was appointed. Her willingness would be very much in question, absent a close exam of her medical records from that time.
Lights could come back, then lights out again.
I am not saying who is guilty or not...but it's a tough case to prove.
Definitely a tough case, could be very interesting to follow though.
Yes how convenient he was always there when the light was on. Too bad he was screwing her when the was off. Pffft. Sorry, I didn't mean to turn you on.
Sarkozy is not the only one being targetted. Basically, she's France's richest woman, and her kids got upset that she was spending their inheritance (by law you cannot disinherit your children in France - she cannot leave it to a charity, a friend, anyone when she dies - her kids would inherit 100% since she's a widow). They initiated guardianship proceedings to stop her from spending money how she chose, which included investing in numerous companies, making political contributions, etc. No, you're not allowed to give cash to a political campaign in France; you have to contribute less directly. It's alleged she gave Sarkozy's campaign treasurer 150,000 Euros. But her kids are setting police and attorneys loose on a number of people she gave money to over the years to get money back.
Good point, Francophone - the inheritance laws over there are quite different. And there is a ton of money on the table that her kids are probably itchin' to get their hands on.
The article does not mention the amount of money involved. Was it $710.46 dollars's, or 608 Million Euro's.
French news websites are reporting it's 150,000 Euros.
It does tell me one thing...like here in the U.S. you have the most ueducated cows on the planet to elect the most dispicable leaders ...more concern with percieved "koolness" mooching off others...american idol...DWTH....anything but knowing what's happening in the world around them. This is exactly how hitlers get into power.
Taking money is how these people survive. he's not a doctor...how would he know she was not in her right mind...and why go after him 7 years later? The family wasn't really on the ball and now "they" want more money.
(Sarkozy, 57, lost his immunity from prosecution in May when he was defeated in a bid for re-election by Socialist Francois Hollande.)
Because Sarkozy was under immunity as long as he was president and therefore couldn't be under investigation.
That's remind me of what hapened here with the Heiress Huguette Clark not too long ago..
Lock him up for taking advantage of the poor old lady with Alzeheimers.
But President Obama said George Bush did it
Sarkosy...he is just a lump of merde.
Even though 150k to her is like a cent to me, it's a matter of principle. The Napoleonic Code will sort it out.
Just another right wing scumbag stealing peoples money for the rich
Slow down Joe. Lilliane's father was a fascist in the 30's and so was her own husband. They collaborated with the Nazis during the war, not out of coercion but out of conviction. So she was steeped in a right wing environment and might not have been forced all that much to help a right wing politician. I personally met Mrs Bettencourt in the past and she is a classy lady and all. And the past is the past and people have evolved since the choices of those dark days.
Nothing unusual here. Just another money grubbing politician. Move along.
Another crooked French politician full of MERDE. Shame on him for taking advantage of a rich sick woman. They should put him in jail forever.
Sarko is unpopular with Moslems, with big government socialists and with Communist-dominated syndicats, all of which he saw as threats to the integrity and security of France. He wanted the French to be more like the Germans: more work, less talk. He wanted France to learn from the banlieu riots of 2004 and build no more high-rise ghettoes in which a few street gangs have thousands of people terrorized.
Now that the darling of all these groups Francois Hollande is President, they are trying to have their revenge AND make certain their arch foe does not return to power and complete the work he had started.
Nungman, you summed it up pretty well.
Uber rich polticians...swindlers; who would have thunk it?
Easy come easy go!!!!
Alzheimers affects short term memory, every time he went to see her she had no idea she gave him money last time. What a lowlife!
Nicolas SARKOSY vient d’être, comme Jésus en son temps, crucifié de la plus barbare des manières - Puisse le ciel le faire triompher de ces attaques diffamatoires – en effet, peut-on en vouloir à quelqu’un qui, pour ne pas heurter la sensibilité d’une vieille dame, n’ose pas refuser les quelques flacons de shampoing et d’antirides
que celle-ci lui offre ? Nous vivons une époque particulière où tout semble suspect et où la générosité, même la plus simple, devient louche – mais prenons garde à ce que les générations futures penseront de tout cela