Nicolas Sarkozy was placed on Wednesday, April 1 assisted witness status, beyond this stage to put a review in the case of the penalties set by his party, UMP after the 2012 presidential election.
After his arraignment, the judges had the opportunity to review or to be placed under the status of assisted witness.
This status is intermediate between that of mere witness and indicted, held for people on lequelles weigh serious or consistent evidence.
The former president had arrived shortly after Wednesday eight hours in financial hub of Paris. His hearing had been postponed several times.
Soon after, his former campaign manager and current prefect of Lozère Guillaume Lambert, UMP deputy Philippe Briand, who was the treasurer and a lawyer of UMP, Philippe Blanchetier, had been taken into custody at the Anti-Corruption Office of the Judicial Police (OCLCIFF) in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine), in the case Bygmalion, bringing it into alleged false system bills during the presidential election.
363 615 euros penalty
The investigation of penalties involves the payment by the UMP late October 2013, the sanctions against Nicolas Sarkozy for exceeding the ceiling – € 22.5 million. – its expenditures during the campaign lost in 2012
The rejection of Auditors private UMP repayment of more than ten million campaign costs. But the Constitutional Council had also ordered the candidate Sarkozy restitution to the State of a lump sum of 153,000 euros and had imposed a penalty of 363,615 euros, corresponding to the overshoot .
However, the fact that the UMP for taking such costs may constitute a breach of trust because the penalties were aimed at the candidate himself and the money the party would have been diverted for his benefit. At the time, to bail out, the UMP, heavily indebted, had launched a large subscription to its members, the “Sarkothon.”
The investigating judges have already indicted for abuse trust the former head of the UMP Jean-Francois Cope and treasurer of the time Catherine Vautrin. They also placed under the control status attended the former director of the party’s resources, Fabienne Liadze the old part of the UMP Jérôme Lavrilleux and Me Blanchetier.
It was on faith analyzing the lawyer of the UMP that the party had supported penalties. Internally, Bercy was also interviewed on the device before confirming it.
Penalty eventually reimbursed by Sarkozy
But in June 2014, this view was challenged by another lawyer, appointed by the Raffarin-Fillon-Juppé trio had just taken the head of the UMP in place of Jean-Francois Cope, forced to resign by the Bygmalion case.
Following , the statutory accounts of the UMP had reported the facts to the Paris prosecutor, who had opened an investigation. In early December, returned to the presidency of the UMP, Nicolas Sarkozy had resolved to repay the sum of 363,615 euros, an act that did not stop the course of the investigation.
Since leaving the Elysee Palace, Nicolas Sarkozy and some of his relatives have been harassed by several cases that may . become obstacles
€ 18.5 million in unrecognized campaign budget
In the case Bygmalion, investigators believe they have uncovered a massive fraud they are convinced that the UMP has assumed approximately € 18.5 million fee meetings in 2012, when these expenses would have had to go in the campaign budget.
Nicolas Sarkozy has also been indicted for bribery and influence peddling active in the so-called Listens case. The judges suspect the former head of state to be tried, with his lawyer Thierry Herzog, to obtain information under the secrecy with a magistrate on duty to the Court of Cassation in the case Bettencourt, where he obtained a dismissal. However, the investigation was suspended pending the appeal court decides, May 7, on procedural nullity requests.
Nicolas Sarkozy had questioned the impartiality of judges who had indicted and denounced the “will” of “humiliating” with its custody, a first for a former president.
( with AFP)
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