French judges on Thursday grilled ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy about accusations his 2007 election campaign was financed with funds secured illegally from France's richest woman.
In a case that could wreck the 57-year-old's hopes of a political comeback, Sarkozy is suspected of taking financial advantage of elderly L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt when she was too frail to fully understand what she was doing.
Sarkozy's appearance comes with his right-wing UMP party in turmoil after the battle to replace him degenerated into mud-slinging and both contenders claiming victory.
Examining magistrate Jean-Michel Gentil and two other judges were expected to spend most of the day quizzing Sarkozy about how he obtained funding from Bettencourt.
After flying into Bordeaux on a private plane, Sarkozy arrived for the hearing in a dark grey Renault minivan just before 0815 GMT, an AFP correspondent said.
A heavy police presence and many journalists surrounded the courthouse in Bordeaux.
Judicial sources have have said that Sarkozy could be formally indicted on a charge of taking advantage of someone in a position of weakness, although the magistrate also has the option of interrogating him as a witness under caution. Bettencourt is now 90 and has been in poor health since 2006.
The allegation against Sarkozy is two-fold: that the money obtained from her took his campaign financing over legal limits and that it had been secured without her full knowledge or consent.
This latter claim was made by Bettencourt's former accountant, Claire Thibout, in 2010.
In a case that could wreck the 57-year-old's hopes of a political comeback, Sarkozy is suspected of taking financial advantage of elderly L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt when she was too frail to fully understand what she was doing.
Sarkozy's appearance comes with his right-wing UMP party in turmoil after the battle to replace him degenerated into mud-slinging and both contenders claiming victory.
Examining magistrate Jean-Michel Gentil and two other judges were expected to spend most of the day quizzing Sarkozy about how he obtained funding from Bettencourt.
After flying into Bordeaux on a private plane, Sarkozy arrived for the hearing in a dark grey Renault minivan just before 0815 GMT, an AFP correspondent said.
A heavy police presence and many journalists surrounded the courthouse in Bordeaux.
Judicial sources have have said that Sarkozy could be formally indicted on a charge of taking advantage of someone in a position of weakness, although the magistrate also has the option of interrogating him as a witness under caution. Bettencourt is now 90 and has been in poor health since 2006.
The allegation against Sarkozy is two-fold: that the money obtained from her took his campaign financing over legal limits and that it had been secured without her full knowledge or consent.
This latter claim was made by Bettencourt's former accountant, Claire Thibout, in 2010.