THE DAUGHTER of Liliane Bettencourt, the L’Oréal heiress who is Europe’s richest woman, yesterday denied being behind a series of secret recordings of her mother’s conversations which have resulted in a key cabinet minister becoming embroiled in a row over tax evasion.
The recordings, made by Ms Bettencourt’s ex-butler, were leaked last week and revealed that she had allegedly planned to hide money in bank accounts in Switzerland and the Seychelles.
The 87-year-old heiress reacted to the allegations by pledging to work with tax authorities to regularise her overseas assets. “The illicit and odious recordings that expose my private life and could affect all of my staff and boards, will not prevent me from continuing to manage my personal affairs,” she said.
She stressed that over the past 10 years she had paid more than €400 million in taxes to French authorities, and denied she had sought to hide her wealth.
Ms Bettencourt is the biggest shareholder in cosmetics giant L’Oréal, which was founded by her father. Her fortune is estimated at $13.4 billion (€10.8 billion) by Forbes, making her the richest woman in Europe and the 21st richest person in the world.
In two weeks, a trial begins between Ms Bettencourt’s daughter, who says her mother can no longer manage her fortune, and a French photographer who stands accused of extorting gifts worth €1 billion from the elderly woman.
In an interview due to appear in today's Le FigaroMagazine, Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers denied being behind the recordings of conversations between the billionaire and her financial adviser in her Parisian villa, and insisted the ex-butler who made them "received nothing" in return.
In an earlier interview, Ms Bettencourt had pointed the finger at her daughter, to whom she has not spoken since December 2007, when Ms Bettencourt-Meyers filed a formal complaint against the photographer, François-Marie Banier. Mr Banier is expected to repeat his earlier denials that he manipulated Ms Bettencourt into lavishing €1 billion worth of art, cash and gifts – including an island – on him as thanks for being her faithful confidant.
“The truth is that this butler is a very honest man with an extremely courageous attitude. He worked for my parents for a long time,” Ms Bettencourt-Meyers said, adding that she did not know about the existence of the recordings until recently.
“It’s a completely tragic story in which my mother is the victim, and it’s up to me as her only daughter to protect her.” In a further twist, the scandal over the butler’s tapes has threatened to engulf a high-profile minister in President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government, whose wife helped manage Ms Bettencourt’s financial affairs.
Facing calls to resign because of his links with the billionaire, Labour minister Eric Woerth – whose wife Florence worked for a firm that managed Ms Bettencourt’s affairs – strongly denied any wrongdoing.
“I am being accused of absolute horrors and I’m very shocked by the way it’s being done,” he told French television. “It is scandalous, shocking, and insulting for me,” he said.
Mr Woerth announced this week that his wife Florence would resign from the firm managing Ms Bettencourt’s affairs “in the coming days” and denied any conflict of interest. “Do I look like somebody who hides tax fraud?” he said in response to questions about his role and that of his wife. “ never been involved in one way or another, directly or indirectly, in the tax affairs of Ms Bettencourt.”
Mr Woerth, who won plaudits for his steady manner and launched a campaign against tax havens in his previous position, is spearheading contested reform of the pension system. Despite opposition calls for him to step down, Mr Sarkozy has said the minister enjoys his full support.