French police question minister in tax scandal

French police on Thursday began questioning Eric Woerth, the social affairs minister, as a witness in an investigation into a political donations scandal that has rocked the government.

"The hearing has begun, it's taking place at the [labour] ministry," said a spokesman for prosecutor Philippe Courroye.

Mr Woerth, who was previously budget minister, resigned as treasurer of the ruling centre-right UMP earlier this month amid suggestions of a potential conflict of interest. His wife, Florence, worked for Ms Bettencourt as a financial adviser before her recent resignation.

On Wednesday the home of Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, daughter of L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, was searched by police as part of a preliminary investigation into allegations of invasion of privacy.

Police arrived at dawn in Neuilly, the plush Parisian suburb, and seized documents from Ms Bettencourt Meyers' home which is opposite that of her estranged 87-year old mother.

They are trying to establish the circumstances in which illicit recordings were made for more than a year in Ms Bettencourt's home by Pascal Bonnefoy, a former butler. Ms Bettencourt Meyers denies being behind the tapes, which were given to her a month ago and which she then handed to police.

Mrs Bettencourt Meyers was not home at the time, according to her lawyer, Olivier Metzner.

A number of preliminary inquiries have been launched by Philippe Courroye, prosecutor of the Nanterre area, after the illicit recordings of conversations between Ms Bettencourt and her entourage intensified the dispute between mother and daughter and set off a political storm.

The two women have not been on speaking terms for years after Ms Bettencourt Meyers took legal action against Francois Banier, a society photographer, accusing him of abusing her mother's alleged frailty to secure himself €1bn of gifts.

Both Mr Banier and Ms Bettencourt, France's richest woman thanks to her 31 per cent stake in L'Oreal, the cosmetics company, say the gifts were given freely. Ms Bettencourt also denies being mentally frail.

The tapes have triggered allegations that Ms Bettencourt may have benefited from favourable tax treatment because of her political connections and also sparked a fierce debate about possible conflicts of interest.

Ms Bettencourt and a number of others, including Patrice de Maistre, have alleged the secret recordings made over the course of year up to March 2010 constitute an invasion of privacy.

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