July 3, 2012Nicolas Sarkozy received £42 million from Muammar Gaddafi in funding for his 2007 presidential election campaign, it was claimed on Monday.
The “terms” for handing over the money were agreed in a meeting between the two men in Libya two years before Mr Sarkozy’s election, documents published by a French investigative website suggest.A memo obtained by the Mediapart site and handed to a judge alleges that the meeting on Oct 6, 2005 resulted in “campaign financing” of “NS [Nicolas Sarkozy]” being “totally paid”.
At the time Mr Sarkozy was France’s interior minister with well-documented ambitions to succeed Jacques Chirac. Political financing laws ban candidates from receiving cash payments above €7,500 (£6,300) but Mediapart claims that €50 million mentioned in the memo were laundered through bank accounts in Panama and Switzerland.
The Swiss account, it is alleged, was opened in the name of the sister of Jean-Francois Copé, the leader of Mr Sarkozy’s ruling UMP party and one of the most active campaigners for his re-election.
The memo claims that “ZT”, believed to be an arms dealer called Ziad Takieddine, known to have close ties with several of Mr Sarkozy’s most loyal aides, was “in charge of arrangements”.
It also mentions “several previous meetings” between Mr Takieddine and Saif-al Islam Gaddafi, Gaddafi’s son and former heir, who last year claimed that Libya had funded Mr Sarkozy’s election.
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July 3, 2012
French police search Nicolas Sarkozy home and office
Police have carried out searches of the home and offices of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy as part of a campaign financing probe.
A law firm in which Mr Sarkozy owns shares was also searched, reports say.
The investigation is related to allegations that Mr Sarkozy's 2007 presidential election campaign received illegal donations from France's richest woman, Liliane Bettencourt.
Mr Sarkozy has previously denied all wrongdoing.
He is currently in Canada with his family, his lawyer, Thierry Herzog, told the AFP news agency.
In presidential elections in May, Mr Sarkozy lost to Socialist challenger Francois Hollande, and his presidential immunity from prosecution ended on 16 June.
Tens of thousands of euros were allegedly funnelled to Mr Sarkozy's campaign by Ms Bettencourt's office.
Individual campaign contributions in France are limited to 4,600 euros ($5,800).
"These raids... will as expected prove futile," Mr Herzog said in a statement.
'Lies and calumny'
An investigating magistrate is looking into claims that staff acting for the L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, gave 150,000 euros in cash to Mr Sarkozy's aides during his 2007 bid to become president.
Ms Bettencourt's former accountant, Claire Thibout, alleges Mr Sarkozy's campaign treasurer - Eric Woerth - who later became his budget minister - collected the cash in person.
In addition, there are other witnesses who allege that during the 2007 campaign, Mr Sarkozy made several private visits to Ms Bettencourt's home.
But Mr Herzog has said that Mr Sarkozy's detailed diary, from the time he was interior minister and accompanied everywhere by police officers, will prove that claims of him attending those meetings were "materially impossible".
Eric Woerth is already under criminal investigation.
The charges in his case relate to claims he had used his influence as a minister to secure France's highest award, the Legion d'honneur, for Mrs Bettencourt's financial manager.
But as yet he is not under criminal investigation for the wider allegation of illegal campaign financing.
The former president has condemned the allegations he is facing as "lies and calumny".
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