Nicolas Sarkozy received campaign cash from L’Oreal heiress, nurse says

Judge tells of claim from Liliane Bettencourt’s nurse that she saw her mistress handing cash over Allegations that Nicolas Sarkozy personally collected envelopes of cash from the L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt have returned to haunt the Elysée, after a French judge made explosive comments in a book to be published on Thursday. Isabelle Prévost-Desprez, the magistrate who investigated the Bettencourt family dispute in 2010, told the authors of Sarko Killed Me that a witness claimed to have seen the billionaire hand cash to Sarkozy during his presidential campaign in 2007. Prévost-Desprez said: “Liliane Bettencourt’s nurse told my stenographer, after being questioned by me, ‘I saw cash payments to Sarkozy, but I couldn’t say it in my statement.’ ” The judge said she had been struck by witnesses’ fear of mentioning Sarkozy in their statements. The assertions were described as a bombshell in French politics, as Sarkozy prepares to run for re-election. “These allegations are scandalous, unfounded and untruthful,” his office said. They threaten to revive the political and financial scandal surrounding the Bettencourt family which shook the government last year. When the daughter of Liliane, 88, went to court saying her mother was frail and being exploited by a playboy friend, the inquiry raised questions about Bettencourt’s links to the highest levels of state. Judges are still investigating possible illegal political party funding and tax evasion. The saga also raised questions over how far the French legal system might be subject to pressure from the presidency. The book details the pressures put on Claire Thibout, Bettencourt’s former accountant, who said she had once been asked to prepare €150,000 (£133,000) cash to be given to Sarkozy’s campaign fund manager in 2007. Thibout said politicians would routinely visit the Bettencourt household, where they would be handed brown envelopes full of cash for their campaigns. She told the investigative website Mediapart last year: “Nicolas Sarkozy also received his envelope. It took place in one of the small salons on the ground floor, close to the dining room. It generally happened after the meal. Everyone in the household knew about it.” Thibout later retracted part of her testimony and said she had no proof that Sarkozy had taken money from Bettencourt, only that he could have. Martine Aubry, the Socialist presidential hopeful, led calls for a fresh inquiry to be opened after the judge’s comments. France Nicolas Sarkozy Europe Angelique Chrisafis guardian.co.uk

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