Chalouette is back! And we thank her for this magnificent spot from the Geneva press that Jovanovic was talking about. We will notice the completely synthetic tone of our Swiss friends who are content to relate the facts without bias, at least that is clear.
REVELATIONS | As her husband, Eric Woerth, French Minister of Labor, becomes increasingly entangled in the Bettencourt affair, the evidence on Florence Woerth's links to the hidden accounts of the L'Oréal heiress is increasing.
© PASCAL FRAUTSCHI | It is in this sumptuous Geneva real estate complex that the wealthy family
Bettencourt had one or even two pied-à-terre. At number 14, there is still a mailbox
to his name.
ELISABETH ECKERT | 03.09.2010 | 00:01
Between the shores of Lake Geneva and the Pearl of the Lake rise the residences of Château-Banquet. A sumptuous set of opulent buildings immersed in greenery, where apartments sell for 1,5 million francs for 5 rooms and 3,5 million francs for 10 rooms. This is where, according to several concordant sources, resided the wife of the current French Minister of Labor and former Minister of the Budget, when she came to Geneva to manage the affairs of Liliane Bettencourt.
“Florence Woerth lived here, in Château-Banquet, confides a real estate broker. Besides, if you want an apartment, his is always empty!”
According to numerous testimonies, the French wealth manager, in the service of the financial company of the Bettencourts, Clymène, came there often, very often. Much more in any case than what Florence Woerth's lawyer said on July 4, Ms.e Antoine Beauquier, following the revelations of 24 hours, asserting that she was "almost permanently" in the City of Calvin: "Ms. Woerth, he said then, has only made two trips to Geneva in recent years: January 11 and May 29, 2008 .”
A luxury base
Did the Minister's wife live directly at 10 Château-Banquet, where the Bettencourts acquired a splendid apartment of… nineteen rooms of 433 m2, on the eighth floor? This apartment was registered under the property of the real estate company En Bergères Vevey SA, domiciled at 55, rue Nestlé in Vevey. Or at the very heart of the Vaud-based multinational, a 29,1% shareholder in L'Oréal!
The Geneva residential complex was, in any case, a veritable stronghold of the Bettencourts, since at number 14 there is still a mailbox in their name and the apartment referring to it was, according to neighbors, sold there two years ago, just after the death of Liliane Bettencourt's husband, André.
Be that as it may, there is nothing surprising in the fact that the extremely wealthy Bettencourt family owned one, or even two, pied-à-terre in Chateau-Banquet. André Bettencourt had maintained close relations with Geneva since 1943, where he notably worked for a time for the Swiss subsidiary of L'Oréal.
Moreover, his second best friend – in addition to François Mitterrand –, François Dalle, not only ended his days in Geneva, after his retirement from the general management of the L'Oréal group, but he had also moved his bank accounts there. “Switzerland, thus confides to us a local lawyer, is notoriously known to be the tax haven for the leaders of the multinational cosmetics company.” Recordings made at Liliane Bettencourt's home by her former butler revealed that the heiress' "banker" was a Geneva business lawyer, Ms.e M., who held the signature on the accounts of Liliane Bettencourt and who counts, among her many business relations, one of the administrators of the IS “En Bergère Vevey SA”.
However, when Florence Woerth's boss and Mme Bettencourt's financier, Patrice de Maistre, wanted money, he had it brought from Geneva or Vevey, courtesy of Mme.e M.
Looking for a villa of at least 50 million on La Côte
Suffice to say that Paris-Geneva trips were numerous. On this point, 24 hours also learned that French emissaries, linked to Patrice de Maistre, went last July to the depository bank of the two undeclared accounts of Liliane Bettencourt, a private bank in the area.
In his private rooms, there would have been talk of a real estate purchase "of at least 50 million francs" between Geneva and Lausanne, thanks to some 70 million francs that the private bank kept in its subsidiary in Vevey. The probable goal: to eliminate this compromising account (whose identity of the beneficiary must be known), via a company, anonymous, it, in the acquisition of a beautiful property on Lake Geneva, where the prestigious objects do not miss.
In Geneva, as we know today, the Bettencourt family therefore had much more than these two undeclared bank accounts, from which Patrice de Maistre wanted to withdraw 300 francs to buy a beautiful sailboat in the Mediterranean. The heiress of L'Oréal also holds an account there at UBS, of some 000 million francs, and another at Credit Suisse, of around 230 million francs, which come from its dividends from L'Oréal.
This summer visit by de Maistre's emissaries to the salons of the Geneva private bank proves the urgency for the heiress' entourage to clean up all traces of tax evasion in Switzerland, considered in France as a fraud. severe. Crime that Eric Woerth, when he was in the Budget, had explicitly designated as his main crusade. Today, it is he who finds himself at the heart of a storm that could well cost him his head (read below).
A minister who combines business
Eric Woerth's name is cited in the context of three other controversies.
Wildenstein Estate
The widow of the great French art dealer Daniel Wildenstein engages in a conflict against the two sons that the collector had had from a previous marriage. One of them is a big contributor to the UMP, of which Woerth was treasurer until last July. Ms. Wildenstein feels cheated out of her share of the inheritance. Most of this fortune, nearly 4 billion euros, was placed in offshore trusts. French justice considered that this process fell within the “family tradition”. Ms. Wildenstein denounced this supposed tax evasion to Eric Woerth, then Budget Minister, on three occasions. She received no response.
Cumbersome advisor
Senior executive at the investment company Athéma, Eric de Sérigny is also advisor to Eric Woerth. “On a voluntary basis,” he says. At the end of 2009, Woerth authorized the dismissal of union representatives from the Molex factory, against the advice of the Labor Inspectorate. But Athéma collaborated with the management of Molex on this file. Neither the minister nor the adviser to Sérigny saw any conflict of interest therein.
Compiegne forest
In 2008, Eric Woerth authorized the sale of 58 hectares of the forest of Compiègne – which is part of the private domain of the State – to the Société des Courses de Compiègne. Le Canard Enchaîné emphasizes the modesty of the price: 2,5 million euros. And notes that the president of this racing society is one of the leaders of France Galop, an association of which the minister's wife, Florence Woerth, is a member.
J.-NC
Patrice de Maistre decorated: the laborious confession of the Minister of Labor Eric Woerth
Finally ! Minister Eric Woerth painstakingly acknowledged having played a role in obtaining the Legion of Honor from Patrice de Maistre, financial adviser to Ms. Liliane Bettencourt. Yesterday in Paris, in front of the Association of Economic and Financial Journalists, the Minister let go of the letter he wrote in 2007 to support the candidacy of the adviser to France's third fortune: "I did as multiple deputies, it is very commonplace. I never said that this letter did not exist. And the Minister to emphasize that he had not lied.
Unfortunately for Woerth's cause, the facts are stubborn. Last Tuesday again, the minister denied his involvement in this decoration, during a meeting of young activists from the Sarkozyist UMP party in the Yvelines, near Paris.
Eric Woerth is therefore forced to resign. Will he now leave the government? In any case, the Socialists, hitherto very discreet, are now firing red balls at this Minister of Labor who is at his worst to defend the pension reform. Despite government denials, we now know that relations between Mrs. Bettencourt's adviser and the then Minister of the Budget and treasurer of the UMP were followed, as this summary demonstrates:
29 September 2006
Patrice de Maistre alludes to a meeting with Eric Woerth, as Sarkozy's presidential campaign treasurer, in a note to the late André Bettencourt, husband of the L'Oréal owner.
January 19 and February 7, 2007
Woerth and de Maistre meet in a café. At the same time, Mrs. Bettencourt's former accountant gave 140 euros to her husband. In order to finance the UMP well beyond the authorized amounts? Minister Woerth fiercely disputes this. During these interviews, Patrice de Maistre indicates that Woerth asked him to receive his wife, Florence, in order to advise her on her career.
March 12, 2007
Deputy Eric Woerth proposes that the Legion of Honor be awarded to Patrice de Maistre in a letter sent to the Minister of the Interior and presidential candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy.
12 and 20 September 2007
Now Minister of the Budget, Eric Woerth has lunch with Patrice de Maistre, to discuss a tax file concerning an employee of Mr. de Maistre.
12th November 2007
Florence Woerth, wife of the Minister, is hired by Patrice de Maistre in the Clymène company which manages part of Mrs. Liliane Bettencourt's property. In a conversation captured by the butler of Mrs. Bettencourt mother, de Maistre affirms that he hired her "at the request of her husband", which he will later dispute. Florence Woerth will resign from the Clymène company last June under the pressure of the controversy.
23th January 2008
Eric Woerth awards the Legion of Honor to Patrice de Maistre.
JEAN-NOËL CUÉNOD PARIS
source: 24Hours.ch
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