THE TELEGRAPH: French police on Wednesday searched the home of the daughter of the L'Oréal cosmetics heiress Liliane Bettencourt amid probes into her financial affairs that have tainted President Nicolas Sarkozy's government.
Financial fraud officers targeted the home of Francoise [sic] Bettencourt-Meyers, the estranged daughter of the 87-year-old billionaire, who lives about 50 yards from her mother in the chic Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine.
Five separate judicial investigations are underway regarding Mrs Bettencourt's fortune, including into allegations of tax evasion and illegal campaign funding involving Mr Sarkozy's labour minister, Eric Woerth.
Mrs Bettencourt-Meyers has accused her mother's entourage, in particular the society photographer François-Marie Banier, of taking advantage of the heiress, whom she claims is no longer in a fit mental state to manage her €15.6 billion (£13 billion) fortune.
One of the investigations centres on conversations secretly taped by Mrs Bettencourt's former butler in which she and her financial adviser allegedly plot to evade taxes. They also discuss the ownership of an island in the Seychelles.
Le Figaro newspaper's website claimed the aim of Wednesday's police raid was to find out whether Mrs Bettencourt's daughter had encouraged the butler to secretly record his employer's conversations. She has denied doing so. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Wednesday, July 28, 2010
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