It has to be said that judge Jean-Michel Gentil is working flat out. Helped by two colleagues from the Bordeaux District Court, the investigating judge has devoted himself exclusively to working on the Bettencourt affair, a case he took over in December 2010. It is a high-profile investigation involving claims that France's wealthiest woman, the octogenarian Liliane Bettencourt, was taken advantage of by those around her, that Bettencourt money was used to fund, illegally, Nicolas Sarkozy's successful 2007 presidential campaign and that attempts were made at the highest level to prevent proper investigation of the affair.
In the latest development Mediapart has learned that the judge has now ordered for three people close to Sarkozy - Thierry Herzog, Xavier Musca and Patrick Ouart – to be questioned by police officers in connection with the much-publicised affair.
Gentil himself could hardly be less high-profile. The judge has conducted his inquiries with a discretion that has at times bordered on paranoia. And the only photograph of him in public circulation is a poor-quality image taken 15 years ago. However, the judge has let it be known - unofficially – that he is hoping to conclude his investigation by the end of the year.
One reason for this timetable may be that Jean-Michel Gentil is known to have his sights set on promotion. Judges have to change court districts regularly to gain advancement and Gentil, who has been vice-president in charge of investigations on the Bordeaux circuit since 1999, applied in the spring and then again in July to become advocate general at the Court of Appeal in Paris. In the end he did not get this much sought-after position, which is outside the usual court hierarchy, but it is thought other opportunities will arise.
In the meantime, during his 20 months of inquiries Judge Gentil has placed seven people under formal investigation – one step short of bringing charges – as he considers the wide-ranging claims that Liliane Bettencourt's mental frailty was exploited, of corruption, and of illegal party political funding.
Those placed under formal investigation so far include: French high-society dandy, celebrity photographer and one-time author, François-Marie Banier, and his partner Martin d'Orgeval, wealth manager Patrice de Maistre, who was held in custody for three months, former minister and Sarkozy's 2007 election campaign treasurer Eric Woerth, plus tax lawyers Pascal Wilhelm and Fabrice Goguel. Others could yet follow.
Meanwhile the three men who have been summonsed by the judge to give evidence to police officers from the fraud squad – the brigade financière - will do so on Tuesday 2nd October and Wednesday 3rd October, says an informed source.
Thierry Herzog has been friends with Nicolas Sarkozy for 30 years, since they met as young lawyers at the start of the 1980s. A combative and experienced criminal lawyer, Herzog has defended Sarkozy both as an individual and as a politician, acting on his behalf when the latter was in the Elysée. He was awarded the Légion d'honneur by Sarkozy in 2009.
Patrick Ouart is a magistrate and legal expert who has spent much of his career at the Ministry of Justice, and was also an adviser to Édouard Balladur – to whom Sarkozy was close politically – when he was prime minister from 1993 to 1995.
When Rachida Dati was made Minister of Justice by Sarkozy in 2007, it was said that Ouart, a senior public official in the ministry, was in effect the real minister in charge.
Ouart left public service in 2009 to join the luxury brand group LVMH but continued to keep a watch on legal affairs for Sarkozy, notably in the Clearstream affair. The so-called Bettencourt tapes - whose existence was exclusively revealed by Mediapart in 2010 - show that Ouart was also in close contact with the then Nanterre public prosecutor Philippe Courroye (see below).
As for Xavier Musca, he met Sarkozy at Sciences-Po university and has remained friends with him since. He was an advisor to Balladur when the latter was premier, and has spent much of his career at the Ministry of Finance. In 2004 he was made head of the powerful General Office for Public Finance and Economic Policy (the Direction générale du trésor et de la politique économique now known simply as the Direction générale du Trésor).
Then in 2009 Musca was made deputy chief of staff at the Elysée, taking over as chief of staff in 2011, a position that meant he had access to all the sensitive documents and affairs relating to Sarkozy's term of office.
After Sarkozy's defeat earlier this year Musca joined the bank Crédit agricole as deputy chief operating officer.
In July 2012 it was revealed that Musca was facing a preliminary investigation for 'peddling of influence' while he was at the Elysée, an accusation he has vehemently denied.
Sarkozy's diaries minutely examined
The judge is also known to be spending a great deal of time reading the appointment diaries of Nicolas Sarkozy that were seized during a series of three raids targeting the former president carried out by police officers from the fraud squad on July 3rd.
According to information received by Mediapart, Judge Gentil is painstakingly trying to establish if Sarkozy met Woerth on dates close to the meetings that the latter had with his friend Patrice de Maistre. De Maistre was then wealth manager for Liliane Bettencourt and was discreetly overseeing the arrival in France of large cash withdrawals made from bank accounts in Switzerland. In February 2012, Woerth, 56, was placed under formal investigation for “handling" illegal funding of Sarkozy’s campaign and for “influence peddling”. A former budget and labour minister, Woerth was also treasurer of Sarkozy’s UMP party between 2002 and 2010 and is still an MP. Like Sarkozy, Woerth has denied any role in illegal funding of the campaign.
Sources close to the investigation say the judge is determined to get to the bottom of the political aspects of the case, even if any discoveries relating to illegal funding of the 2007 presidential campaign involving Nicolas Sarkozy may not result in charges because, under statute of limitations rules, the events took place too long ago.
In addition, and according to the same sources, Judge Gentil is closely examining contacts between the Elysée and the judge Philippe Courroye. In particular Gentil is trying to establish whether Courroye, who in 2010 was the public prosecutor in Nanterre, the suburb of Paris where the initial Bettencourt case was handled, had been influenced by political instructions given at the highest level.
Bettencourt's daughter Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers and her three lawyers Olivier Metzner, Didier Martin and Florian Bouaziz, believe that Courraye had wanted to bury the whole affair after getting clear instructions from the Elysée.
Mysterious contacts between spy chief and PR man
Finally, Mediapart has learned that the judge is also examining the mysterious contacts between the former head of the Direction centrale du renseignement intérieur (DCRI), the French domestic intelligence agency, Bernard Squarcini, and the public relations specialist Laurent Obadia. Obadia is close to the tax lawyer Pascal Wilhelm and a former PR advisor to Liliane Bettencourt.
During his investigation the judge has uncovered frequent SMS exchanges between Squarcini – who was replaced as head of the DCRI in late May 2012 - and Obadia about the Bettencourt affair. According to an informed source Judge Gentil wants to shed light on one key question: did Squarcini become interested in the Bettencourt affair on his own initiative, to find out more about the future of L'Oréal, a major French enterprise, or because the Elysée was worried about judicial developments in the case in which claims surrounding the funding of the UMP and of the 2007 presidential campaign had already emerged?
Seen as very close to Nicolas Sarkozy, Squarcini was often criticised for allegedly misusing the formidable means at his disposal as head of the DCRI to protect the head of state, whether it concerned rumours about the latter's private life or financial investigations by judges (the Karachi affair, the Takieddine affair or the Bettencourt affair).
As for Laurent Obadia, who is head of the Opus conseils consultancy, he looked after Liliane Bettencourt's image in return for substantial fees, even accompanying her on exotic trips and arranging some very well orchestrated interviews with his friend Pascal Wilhelm. In particular he set up an interview with TV channel TF1 (owned by the Bouygues group) in July 2010, then in October 2011 with Europe 1 radio and the newspaper Journal du Dimanche (owned by the Lagardère group)
According to the magazine Marianne, Obadia also organised lunches between journalists and the public prosecutor Philippe Courroye when the latter – a favourite of the Elysée at the time – was hoping to get the prestigious job of public prosecutor for Paris.
One of the widely-perceived merits of the Gentil investigation is that it is exploring a hidden network of influence and shared interests where money, politics and PR are all intermingled. “The judge is in the process of colouring in the detail on the judicial report so that the day the legal process is opened to the public everyone knows what is involved,” says someone close to the case. “If Liliane Bettencourt was manipulated by a bunch of predators, we will also see that justice was manipulated by the Elysée.”
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For more on the Bettencourt affair and issues raised in this article, click on the links below:
Judge links L'Oréal heiress cash withdrawals to Sarkozy campaign funding
Sarkozy campaign treasurer under investigation for illegal funding, influence peddling
L'Oréal heiress ordered to pay 77.7 million euros after tax scam probe
Behind the bettencourt affair: the battle for L'Oréal
A scandal too far: Bettencourt magistrate is disowned
French prosecutor in Bettencourt affair illegally spied journalists' phone calls
The eerie plot penned by L'Oréal family scandal dandy in 1971
Dinners, cash and Sarkozy: what Bettencourt's accountant told Mediapart
Bettencourt butler bites back: 'I saw L'Oréal family destroyed'
Bettencourt battle back after L'Oréal heiress signs away 143 million euros
The political guard watching over L'Oréal
Bettencourt chauffeur adds to Sarkozy campaign fund allegations
Bettencourt tapes stolen in mystery break-ins targetting Mediapart, Le Point and Le Monde
French interior minister drops libel action against Mediapart
Why we need a strong media in France
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English version: Michael Streeter