They were supposed to be confidential chats between France’s richest woman and her financial advisers, with topics ranging from secret Swiss bank accounts to her gift of a private luxury island to a friend. But someone slipped a recorder into the room, taping everything.
The butler says he did it.
The butler’s secret recordings, recently leaked to the media, have embarrassed the French political establishment at the highest levels and prompted tax authorities to announce a thorough audit of L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt’s fortune.
The 21-hours of tapes may also force the delay of this week’s high-profile court case pitting the billionaire Bettencourt against her only child. The case started when Bettencourt’s daughter, Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers, alleged that a charming society man had conned her 87-year-old, mentally frail mother out of cash and artworks worth $1.2 billion.
Celebrity photographer Francois-Marie Banier — a 63-year-old dandy who has befriended stars from artist Salvador Dali to actor Johnny Depp — is to stand trial for exploitation. Banier insists he did not take advantage of his older friend. The younger Bettencourt says she just wants to protect her elderly mother.