Bettencourt affair - This secret note which reinforces suspicions

New discoveries in the Bettencourt affair: judge Isabelle Prévost-Desprez, who is investigating additional information on the accusation of "abuse of weakness" against the photographer François-Marie Banier, holds a three-page document, dated beginning of 2008, which is presented as a memory aid intended for Liliane Bettencourt in order to prepare for her hearing by the police and the courts. Seized from the billionaire's home during a search, this note includes the answers that the billionaire had to provide, in view of delicate questions about her relations with François-Marie Banier and about the donations made in her favor, the total of which is close to a billion euros.

The document, which seems to constitute the summary of meetings held in the Neuilly mansion on February 6, February 8 and April 15, 2008, gives credence to the feeling that the octogenarian was then under the influence of several members of his entourage. - which the famous recordings of his butler have since corroborated. On those dates, the complaint from her daughter, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, had just been filed, but Liliane Bettencourt had neither been requested nor summoned by the courts. The identity of the author of the note is not specified, but it is certain that it is not Ms. Bettencourt, since she added certain handwritten annotations in the margin, recognizable by the writing and by the her usual use of a green marker.

The document attests that the billionaire's advice then encouraged her to put forward "a question of jealousy" to explain her daughter's initiative. "Mrs. Bettencourt regrets that her daughter does not understand that her friendship for Mr. Banier takes nothing away from his affection for her, says the text prepared for the old lady. They are not in competition. Furthermore , she gave her daughter practically all of her capital in L'Oréal, for an amount which has no common measure with the donations made to Mr. Banier, which were only ever made by taking from her income. " Another mention designed to justify the extraordinary generosity of the billionaire towards the photographer: "Mr. Banier is at the same time a friend, whose presence is precious to him, an opening to the artistic world and an artist towards whom "she plays the role of patron. She wanted him to be able to carry out his work without material worries."

The author(s) of this preparatory work have also suggested several questions to anticipate. Thus, to the question: "Why such large sums?", it is suggested that Liliane Bettencourt respond: "They are proportionate to my fortune; they were only taken from my income." This double assertion is not entirely accurate, but it corresponds to what the billionaire declared on May 13, during what remains to this day her only hearing in this case. Facing the mention Questions about the state of health, it is written: "I had physical problems which never altered my intellectual faculties."

Other requests are anticipated, and the expected responses dictated to Ms. Bettencourt. “Do you have foreign accounts?” Answer: “No” – we now know that she held two in Switzerland. “Did she give away the island of Arros directly or indirectly?” Answer: "No, I am only a tenant..." It is certain that the billionaire had bought this island in the Seychelles via a shell company registered in Liechtenstein and the investigation showed that she intended it for Banier. ..

Another question revealing the state of mind of the octogenarian's entourage: "Wouldn't we present you with ready-made acts [of donation], letters that you only copied?" The person concerned is asked to respond in these terms: “I have always carefully checked their scope and I only signed when I agreed with their terms.” The butler's clandestine recordings - revealed by The Point - nevertheless showed that Mrs. Bettencourt had forgotten having signed a will designating François-Marie Banier as universal legatee, or that she had no memory of having wanted to offer her island in the Seychelles to her dear friend. Recently, she revoked this will and instructed her lawyers to recover the island of Arros so that she could declare ownership of it to the tax authorities.

The note found by the police finally contains a disturbing passage. The author - who could be Patrice de Maistre, Liliane Bettencourt's confidant - indicates this: "Me Goguel [lawyer of the billionaire] is preparing a note that I can give to the deputy director of the office of the Minister of Justice , so that he can tell us where things stand, what the judge's state of mind is and what the position of the prosecution is." No details make it possible to know whether such a note was actually given to the office of Rachida Dati, then Keeper of the Seals, but this mention reinforces the impression of a procedure particularly followed in high places since the beginning, which several extracts famous recordings also corroborated, evoking in particular the contacts between the Élysée and Patrice de Maistre.

source: The Point.fr