France's former first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, has been charged* over an election funding scandal dating back to 2007 involving cash from the then Libyan dictator, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, reports BBC News.
According to French media, Ms Bruni-Sarkozy, 56, was charged* with hiding evidence and associating with wrongdoers to commit fraud.
She was placed under judicial control and barred from being in contact with all those accused except her husband, Nicolas Sarkozy.
Ms Bruni-Sarkozy is also suspected of concealment of witness tampering and involvement in an attempt to bribe Lebanese judicial personnel, among other violations.
Her lawyers told AFP that Ms Bruni-Sarkozy was determined to assert her rights and challenge the "unfounded decision".
Mr Sarkozy, who was the president of France from 2007 to 2012, is due to go on trial next year over allegations he took money from Gaddafi to finance his successful election bid.
He is accused of corruption, illegal campaign financing, benefiting from embezzled public funds and membership in a criminal conspiracy. He has always denied all the charges*.
Read more of this report from BBC News.
*Editor's note: Under a change to the French legal system introduced in 1993, a magistrate can decide if a suspect should be 'placed under investigation' (mis en examen), which is a status one step short of being charged (inculpé), if there is 'serious or concordant' evidence that they committed a crime. Some English-language media describe this status, peculiar to French criminal law, as that of being charged. In fact, it is only at the end of an investigation that a decision can be made to bring charges, in which case the accused is automatically sent for trial.