Sarkozy questioned on campaign funds

Policemen stand guard in front of a Bordeaux courthouse where former French president Nicolas Sarkozy is due to appear before an examining magistrate to respond to charges that his 2007 electoral campaign was financed with funds secured illegally. Former President Nicolas Sarkozy faces questions over funding for his 2007 campaign L'Oreal cosmetics heiress Liliane Bettencourt is suspected of illegally helping him Bettencourt, 90, is France's richest woman Sarkozy's former labor minister Eric Woerth and others have also faced scrutiny Paris (CNN) -- Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived at a Bordeaux court Thursday for questioning in a probe involving illegal campaign donations, CNN affiliate BFM-TV said. The investigation of the former leader has largely centered around whether L'Oreal cosmetics heiress Liliane Bettencourt and her staff illegally helped him during his 2007 presidential campaign. The questions put to Sarkozy by Judge Jean-Michel Gentil are likely to be based on evidence given by 90-year-old Bettencourt's former accountant, Claire Thibout, BFM-TV reports. The Bettencourt scandal has fascinated France since questions about the finances of France's richest woman emerged last year amid a family feud. Among the matters probed by investigators were allegations that secret, possibly illegal payments were made to French politicians, including Sarkozy; Eric Woerth, his former labor minister; and members of his party, the Union for a Popular Movement, known as UMP. Sarkozy lost the diplomatic immunity he held as president when he failed in his re-election bid in May. CNN's Pierre Meilhan and Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report.