FRENCH POLICE investigating a political donations scandal and the tax affairs of the L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt have searched the headquarters of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP party in Paris.
The party had been notified of the visit by the financial investigations unit in advance, party secretary general Xavier Bertrand said yesterday, and officers did not remove any documents.
Police were reportedly seeking a copy of a letter sent in 2007 by Labour minister Eric Woerth, then UMP treasurer, about Ms Bettencourt’s wealth manager, Patrice de Maistre.
Several judicial investigations are under way into affairs linked to Ms Bettencourt’s €17 billion fortune, including allegations of tax evasion and illegal campaign funding that have implicated Mr Woerth. He strongly denies any wrongdoing, but he has been under pressure at a time when he is charged with steering the government’s contentious pension reform through parliament.
“The police came to our office yesterday to seek information. We agreed to open our doors,” a UMP spokeswoman said, adding that the party had been notified in advance.
Despite being cleared by an official report of any interference in Ms Bettencourt’s tax affairs when he was budget minister, Mr Woerth continues to face allegations that he used his influence to secure a position for his wife with a company that managed part of Ms Bettencourt’s fortune.
He denies this, along with a separate claim that he received illegal cash donations for President Sarkozy’s 2007 election campaign from Ms Bettencourt, who is at the centre of an investigation into alleged tax evasion and money-laundering.
The minister has acknowledged that he put forward the case for Mr de Maistre – his wife’s future employer – being awarded the prestigious légion d’honneur, but insists this was nothing more than routine business for a member of parliament.
The claims involving senior politicians emerged from a private inheritance dispute between Ms Bettencourt (87) and her daughter, Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers. The row came to public attention when recordings made by Ms Bettencourt’s ex-butler were leaked, revealing that she had allegedly planned to hide money in bank accounts in Switzerland and the Seychelles.