Police raid home of France’s richest woman
Mar 12, 2012, 8:16 PM
Associated Press
PARIS (AP) – Police have raided the home of L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt _ France’s richest woman _ as part of a broad probe involving suspected illegal party financing and tax evasion.
An official close to the investigation says police seized a computer belonging to the 89-year-old cosmetics billionnaire in a sweep early Monday in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a posh Paris suburb.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Investigators want to analyze emails between her and the manager of her fortune estimated by Forbes magazine at $24 billion.
A long-running family feud over the fortune has ballooned into a political affair involving allegations of tax evasion and illegal financing of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative party.
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