Richest woman quizzed in tax scandal
Source: Agencies |
July 20, 2010, Tuesday
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FRANCE'S richest woman, Liliane Bettencourt, is to be questioned by police about alleged tax evasion and money laundering in a scandal that has hit the government, a public prosecutor's spokeswoman said yesterday.
President Nicolas Sarkozy has been embarrassed by claims by the former bookkeeper of L'Oreal cosmetics heiress Bettencourt, 87, that the billionairess and her late husband made illegal donations to politicians, including to Sarkozy's 2007 presidential election.
"She will be questioned, but we have no further information at the moment," the spokeswoman for Nanterre prosecutor Philippe Courroye said.
The announcement came as Labour Minister Eric Woerth fended off fresh accusations of a conflict of interest over a weekend report that he pushed Bettencourt's wealth manager to employ his wife, Florence Woerth, in November 2007.
"I did not influence the recruitment of my wife, and that's that," Woerth told reporters. "My wife met her boss through her previous job, which was in a bank," he said.
Bettencourt has been in the spotlight since the publication last month of secret recordings which appeared to show her advisers discussing undeclared bank accounts in Switzerland and an island in the Seychelles.
She has said in a television interview she intends to repatriate and declare the money.
Woerth, who as budget minister led a much-publicized government crackdown on tax evasion, came under fire after it emerged that his wife Florence was an employee at Clymene, the firm which manages Bettencourt's fortune.
Sarkozy and Woerth have both denied receiving illegal cash and Woerth's wife has since resigned her position. The minister has denied any wrongdoing and an investigation cleared him of any meddling in Bettencourt's tax affairs.
President Nicolas Sarkozy has been embarrassed by claims by the former bookkeeper of L'Oreal cosmetics heiress Bettencourt, 87, that the billionairess and her late husband made illegal donations to politicians, including to Sarkozy's 2007 presidential election.
"She will be questioned, but we have no further information at the moment," the spokeswoman for Nanterre prosecutor Philippe Courroye said.
The announcement came as Labour Minister Eric Woerth fended off fresh accusations of a conflict of interest over a weekend report that he pushed Bettencourt's wealth manager to employ his wife, Florence Woerth, in November 2007.
"I did not influence the recruitment of my wife, and that's that," Woerth told reporters. "My wife met her boss through her previous job, which was in a bank," he said.
Bettencourt has been in the spotlight since the publication last month of secret recordings which appeared to show her advisers discussing undeclared bank accounts in Switzerland and an island in the Seychelles.
She has said in a television interview she intends to repatriate and declare the money.
Woerth, who as budget minister led a much-publicized government crackdown on tax evasion, came under fire after it emerged that his wife Florence was an employee at Clymene, the firm which manages Bettencourt's fortune.
Sarkozy and Woerth have both denied receiving illegal cash and Woerth's wife has since resigned her position. The minister has denied any wrongdoing and an investigation cleared him of any meddling in Bettencourt's tax affairs.
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