Nicholas Sarkozy in corruption probe amid claims he took £40MILLION
Former French president Nicholas Sarkozy is to be formally investigated amid claims he accepted £40million in under-the-table kickbacks from Colonel Gaddafi during his 2007 election campaign, it was revealed today.
An official at the public prosecutor’s office said an inquiry had been opened after allegations by French-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine, himself under investigation over arms sales to Pakistan in the 1990s.
Mr Sarkozy, 58, faces a range of charges including bribery and corruption, forgery, misuse of corporate assets and influence peddling, according to a judicial source.
Double act: Former Libyan leader, Colonel Gaddafi being welcomed to Elysee Palace by Nicolas Sarkozy when he was President
Old friends: Eyebrows were first raised when Gaddafi was honoured with a state visit to Paris in late 2007 in which Sarkozy referred to him as the 'Brother Leader' and was allowed to pitch his tent next to the Elysee Palace
French law bans candidates from receiving cash payments above £6,300, but it is claimed that Gaddafi’s donations were laundered through bank accounts in Panama and Switzerland.
An Arabic language document made public last year refers to Gaddafi approving an 'agreement in principle to support the campaign for the candidate for the presidential elections, Nicolas Sarkozy, for a sum equivalent to 50 million euros (£40 million)'.
A bundle of incriminating evidence was leaked by senior members of the National Transitional Council, the organisation which governed Libya after the Arab Spring revolution.
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The money was then allegedly distributed through Ziad Takieddine, 62, who was acting as a middle man between Arab despots and French politicians.
Takieddine was interviewed by Paris judge Renaud Van Ruymbeke on December 19 and said the majority of the money was paid between ‘December 2006 and January 2007’, five months before Sarkozy came to power.
Corrupt campaign? Nicolas Sarkozy, right, shakes hands with resigning Socialist Party political advisor Eric Besson at a campaign rally in Dijon during his 2007 election campaign
Give it back: Gaddafi's son, Saif-Al Islam Gaddafi, left, who is now awaiting trial, has also insisted that Libya financed Sarkozy's election
Gaddafi's son, Saif-Al Islam Gaddafi, has also insisted that Libya financed Sarkozy's election.
Saif-Al Islam, who is now awaiting trial, said: 'Sarkozy must first give back the money he took from Libya to finance his electoral campaign. We funded it.’
Eyebrows were first raised when Gaddafi was honoured with a state visit to Paris in late 2007.
He was referred to as the 'Brother Leader' by the French president, and allowed to pitch his tent next to the Elysee Palace.
This is yet another corruption scandal, in which Sarkozy is accused of accepting millions in illegal cash from Liliane Bettencourt, the l’Oreal heiress and France’s richest woman.
Sarkozy turned on his friend Gaddafi at the beginning of the Arab Spring, French jets were the first to attack Gaddafi's tanks in a brutal military campaign which ended with the Libyan leader being murdered.
