Liliane Bettencourt, one of the richest women in the world, made an illegal contribution of 150,000 euros (188,000 dollars) to the 2007 presidential campaign of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, her former accountant said in an interview published Tuesday in the online daily MediaPart.
According to the accountant, identified only as Claire T., in March 2007 she was asked to withdraw the 150,000 euros from the bank by the man who manages Bettencourt's fortune, Patrice de Maistre, DPA reported.
But she refused, because her line of credit was limited to 50,000 euros a week.
She said that Maistre then grew irritated and said, "But, look, it's to finance Sarkozy's presidential campaign... And 50,000 euros is not enough."
The French law on political donations limits campaign contributions by individuals to 4,600 euros. Cash contributions cannot exceed 150 euros. All private campaign contributions above that amount must be paid by check or online, with the donor clearly identified.
Claire T. told MediaPart that she handed 50,000 euros to Bettencourt and saw her employer give the money to Maistre. She said that Maistre took the remaining 100,000 euros from one of Bettencourt's Swiss bank accounts.
She said that Maistre told her that he would give the 150,000 euros "discreetly" to the finance director of Sarkozy's campaign, Eric Woerth, who is currently minister of labour and social affairs.
"The dinner took place very quickly," the accountant said.
Woerth is now fighting accusations of conflict of interest because of his close association with Bettencourt and her associates.
French media reported that while Woerth was Sarkozy's budget minister, prosecutors notified his ministry of possible tax evasion by Bettencourt involving the transfer of some 65 million euros to foreign banks.
The ministry did not act on the alert. Woerth has repeatedly claimed his innocence in the matter, saying he never interfered in her case.
The information came to light after the discovery several weeks ago of 21 hours of secret recordings of conversations between Bettencourt and her friends and advisers. The recordings were made by Bettencourt's former butler and made public by Mediapart.
The conversations included discussions about how to avoid paying taxes and handing out political donations.
Before being interviewed by MediaPart, Claire T. was interrogated for several days by French police regarding information contained on the tapes.
The 87-year-old Bettencourt is currently involved in a legal case pitting her estranged daughter against a celebrity photographer to whom the heiress to the L'Oreal fortune has given some 1 billion euros in gifts.