French police raid Sarkozy home and offices

The home and offices of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy have been raided by police. The
search was part of a probe into alleged illegal campaign financing.

Investigators want to know if Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential election campaign received donations from the L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt.

A judge in the city of Toulouse is looking into whether France’s richest woman gave 150,000 euros in cash to Sarkozy’s aides and whether his 2007 campaign amassed a total of 800,000 euros illegally.

Bettencourt’s alleged donation was well beyond the legal limit for individual support, set at 4,600 euros.

Police searched the office of the legal firm where Sarkozy is a partner, the new bureau he moved into after losing the election and the plush western Paris mansion rented by his wife Carla Bruni.

Sarkozy, who lost his immunity from prosecution last month, denies any wrongdoing. The couple left for a holiday in Canada on Monday.

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