THE L’ORÉAL heiress Liliane Bettencourt has been questioned by police about alleged tax evasion as investigations continue into a scandal that has left the French government badly shaken.
Ms Bettencourt (87), whose €16 billion fortune makes her France’s richest woman, interrupted a holiday at her Spanish villa on Sunday to return to her home in the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, where she was questioned for more than two hours yesterday.
Her lawyer, Georges Kiejman, said afterwards officers carried out a search of his client’s office.
The billionaire was asked to explain two undeclared Swiss bank accounts and the obscure ownership of an island in the Seychelles mentioned on secret recordings made by her former butler and published recently in the French media.
“We indicated to the police that we would furnish them with a memorandum making clear the legal status of the island,” Mr Kiejman said.
A public prosecutor is also looking into allegations by a former accountant that Ms Bettencourt and her late husband made illegal cash donations to conservative politicians. Among the accountant’s claims is that current labour minister Eric Woerth received a cash donation for President Nicolas Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign, although the minister has rejected the allegation.
Mr Woerth has also denied accusations of a conflict of interest over his wife’s job with Ms Bettencourt’s wealth manager at a time when he held two sensitive jobs – as budget minister in charge of reducing tax evasion and as treasurer of the ruling UMP party.
The cabinet last week formally authorised police to question Mr Woerth and the minister is expected to be called to a meeting with the inquiry team as early as today. He has resisted opposition calls for his resignation and said last week he was looking forward to explaining his position to investigators.
The secret recordings that set off a damaging chain of events for Mr Sarkozy’s party were leaked to the press a month before a trial, since postponed, over claims by Ms Bettencourt’s only daughter that the elderly woman was manipulated into giving a photographer friend about €1 billion in gifts.
The photographer, François-Marie Banier, has already been questioned by police – as have Ms Bettencourt’s wealth manager Patrice de Maistre, her tax lawyer Fabrice Goguel and Carlos Vejarano, the manager of a property in the Seychelles. All deny any wrongdoing.