Nanterre (France): French judges on Thursday began
weighing the impact of stunning new evidence as they probed
whether the country's richest woman fell prey to a schemer
when she gave him USD 1.2 billion in gifts.
Judges were considering whether the trial should be
postponed to give officials time to study the new evidence:
Secret recordings by the butler of the heiress to the L'Oreal
SA cosmetics fortune, recordings that have embroiled France's
political leadership.
The legal battle has pitted billionaire heiress Liliane
Bettencourt against her only child. Her daughter, Francoise
Bettencourt-Meyers, says a charming photographer manipulated
her mentally weak 87-year-old mother into handing him part of
her fortune.
In the trial, which opened today in the Paris suburb of
Nanterre, celebrity photographer Francois-Marie Banier is
accused of exploitation and risks three years of prison, a
fine and being ordered to give back the gifts.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, July 01, 2010, 21:20