A criminal investigation into former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, for allegedly taking advantage of the mental frailty of billionaire Bettencourt to obtain money for his 2007 presidential campaign, has been dropped.
Sarkozy lost immunity from prosecution when he was defeated in the 2012 presidential election by Socialist François Hollande. He was charged in March 2013 with "abuse of a weakness" in relation to allegations he accepted funds from France's richest woman, L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, when she was allegedly too frail to know what she was doing. Investigators suspected up to €4 million of Bettencourt's cash subsequently made its way into the coffers of Sarkozy's UMP party.
Prosecutors in the case back in June had called for the charges to be dropped but the judges Jean-Michel Gentil and Valérie Noël didn't accept this opinion and called for an investigation to proceed.
Sarkozy has always maintained that he visited Bettencourt's residence only once during the campaign, to meet her late husband. Members of the multi-billionaire's staff have, however, contradicted his version of events.
I think it might be all a set-up from the very start to accuse him so that he does not return to politics in time for the 2017 presidential election. Politics is really a very dirty business, woon't be surprised if was set up in the affair. Sarkozy is still facing another investigation over allegations that he accepted up to €50 million cash from former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi for the 2007 campaign.
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