PARIS, July 10 (UPI) -- The investigation into Liliane Bettencourt, the richest woman in France, has become more intense with police raids on her financial managers.
The scandal has hurt President Nicolas Sarkozy, The Guardian reports. Polls show his popularity has hit new lows.
The wife of Eric Woerth, the employment minister, worked for Clymene, a company that helped manage Bettencourt's money. Investigators raided the Clymene office and the home of Patrice de Maistre, her financial adviser.
Claire Thibout, who worked for the L'Oreal heiress as a bookkeeper, has said that in 2007, when Sarkozy was running for president, de Maistre told her to withdraw 150,000 euros ($190,000) from a Bettencourt account. The money was allegedly to be passed on to Woerth, treasurer of Sarkozy's Le Mouvement Populaire, for use in the campaign.
Thibout said on Thursday that she never told anyone cash was given directly to Sarkozy.
