An investigation by Mediapart has confirmed that a longstanding close aide to former French president Nicolas Sarkozy received 440,000 euros in a secret offshore account paid from Libyan funds one year before the 2007 French presidential elections, casting further suspicion that Sarkozy’s successful bid was partly financed by the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. The money was transferred by a shell company belonging to a French-Lebanese intermediary who is central to the funding allegations, through which transited several millions of euros from the Tripoli regime. Fabrice Arfi and Karl Laske report.
Thierry Gaubert, a longstanding aide to former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, received 440,000 euros in a secret offshore bank account paid by the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi one year before Sarkozy’s 2007 election campaign, according to bank documents consulted by Mediapart.
