Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been designated a key witness in a judicial investigation of financing of his failed 2012 re-election bid, reports Yahoo! News.
Wednesday's move by an investigating judge amounts to a new legal headache for Sarkozy as he seeks to reconstruct his political career and possibly mount a re-election bid in 2017.
It comes three days after his conservative UMP party handily won local elections, which has been seen by many observers as a positive political sign for him.
The case centers on hundreds of thousands of euros in fines paid by the UMP after France's constitutional court ruled two years ago that Sarkozy's 2012 re-election campaign exceeded legal funding limits. Investigators believe he — not the party — should have paid the fine.
The constitutional court ruling also stripped the party of state reimbursements and left it with an 11-million-euro ($11.8 million) bill.
After Sarkozy was questioned by the investigating judge on Wednesday, the Paris prosecutor's office said he has been named an "assisting witness." Under French law, that means he has not been directly accused of any wrongdoing, but leaves open the possibility that he could be later.
Read more of this Associated Press report published by Yahoo! News.