Former French interior minister Claude Guéant, who served for years as chief of staff of Nicolas Sarkozy before and after he became president, received 500,000 euros paid through a complex money trail that led back to a sovereign wealth fund controlled by the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, a Paris appeal court has confirmed. The payment was made when Guéant, dubbed “the cardinal” because of his power and influence as Sarkozy’s right-hand man, was secretary general of the Élysée Palace. Fabrice Arfi and Karl Laske report.
A ruling by a Paris appeal court has confirmed that former French interior minister Claude Guéant, a longstanding chief of staff for Nicolas Sarkozy, received a disguised payment of half a million euros from funds of the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
