French probe allegations of secret Sarkozy funding

[denem]

Source: Associated Press,

PARIS — French prosecutors have opened a preliminary investigation into allegations that the country's richest woman secretly funded President Nicolas Sarkozy's election campaign, a judicial official said Wednesday.

The probe is a new blow to Sarkozy, who is rapidly losing support among French voters stung by the global economic crisis.

Sarkozy denies claims that his 2007 campaign received euro150,000 ($188,000) in secret cash from 87-year-old L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt and calls the allegations an effort to smear him.

But Sarkozy and his prime minister strained Wednesday to keep their government and conservative party from unraveling amid a mushrooming scandal surrounding Bettencourt's fortune.

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Bettencourt's chief financial adviser gave euro 150,000 in cash to the treasurer of Sarkozy's conservative party UMP, Eric Woerth, in March 2007

Apart from illegal campaign financing, the suggestion is a quid pro quo on Bettencourt's tax troubles.