French Police Raid Sarkozy's Home and Offices

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy's home and office were searched Tuesday were searched. Photo by BGNES

French police searched former President Nicolas Sarkozy's home and office Tuesday as part of an investigation into allegations of campaign finance violations.

Magistrates are checking signals that cash from Liliane Bettencourt, heiress to the L'Oreal cosmetics empire and France's wealthiest woman, illegally funded Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign.

Judge Jean-Michel Gentil and a team of around ten financial crimes police officers conducted the search of Mr. Sarkozy's home and offices Tuesday, according to reports of the Wall Street Journal.

Sarkozy's lawyer, Thierry Herzog, said that the former French President and his family had left for holiday in Canada the day before.

According to reports of French daily Le Monde, investigators also searched lawyers' offices where Sarkozy was once an associate.

Sarkozy has denied getting illegal campaign contributions.

He has supplied his diary to judges to disprove witnesses' claims that he attended meetings in the Bettencourt household.

Sarkozy's presidential immunity from prosecution expired in June, after he lost the election to Socialist candidate Francois Hollande, and he is expected to face questioning on cases involving corruption and irregularities with party financing.

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