Sarkozy denies fresh claims he took illegal L’Oreal election donations
Mr Sarkozy’s allies suggested the accusations are a campaign ploy against the unpopular president. Similar accusations first surfaced last year. But questions about how Mr Sarkozy financed his 2007 campaign could hit his likely bid for re-election in April and May. Critics have long deemed the conservative leader was too cosy with the rich.
The leader of France’s main opposition party, Socialist Martine Aubry, called for a new investigation into whether Mr Sarkozy received illegal campaign cash from Liliane Bettencourt, Europe’s richest woman.
An accountant for Ms Bettencourt said a year ago that she gave €50,000 in cash in 2007 to Mr Sarkozy’s party treasurer for the campaign – well beyond the legal limit on individual donations.