Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is accused of helping the former French president silence a witness
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, a former supermodel and wife of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, has been accused of witness tampering and conspiracy to commit fraud. These charges stem from allegations that she played a role in covering up claims that her husband’s 2007 election campaign received funding from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Bruni-Sarkozy was charged on Tuesday and is forbidden from having contact with anyone else involved in the case except for her husband, according to France’s AFP news agency.
The investigation into the alleged Libyan funding began in 2011 when Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, claimed that his father financed Sarkozy’s 2007 election campaign with approximately €50 million ($54.3 million). The following year, Franco-Lebanese arms dealer Ziad Takieddine came forward, claiming that he had personally transported €5 million from Tripoli to Paris in late 2006. French police commenced their investigation into Sarkozy in 2013.
However, in 2020, Takieddine retracted his accusations, leading to speculation that he was either bribed or coerced into doing so. Investigators turned their attention to Sarkozy’s friend, Michele Marchand, who had traveled to Lebanon to meet with Takieddine in 2020. Marchand was subsequently arrested in 2021 and charged with witness tampering. Prosecutors alleged that she paid the arms dealer to withdraw his accusations.
Prosecutors believe that Bruni-Sarkozy acted as a liaison between Marchand and her husband during the time Marchand traveled to Lebanon. The prosecution claims that Bruni-Sarkozy deleted text messages to Marchand on the day Marchand was arrested in 2021.
Bruni-Sarkozy has denied any involvement in the alleged payoff scheme, and her lawyers have called the charges against her “unfounded.”
Bruni married Sarkozy in 2008, following her successful careers in modeling and music and relationships with renowned rock icons Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger. Sarkozy had divorced his second wife, another former model named Cecilia Ciganer-Albeniz, less than four months prior.
Sarkozy served one term in office, losing his reelection bid to Francois Hollande in 2012. Since leaving office, he has been entangled in several legal scandals. In 2021, he was convicted of campaign finance violations and influence peddling in two separate cases. Earlier this year, a court in Paris upheld the campaign finance verdict, imposing a six-month suspended sentence on the former statesman.
Sarkozy is expected to face trial next year on charges of “concealment of embezzlement of public funds, passive corruption, illegal campaign financing and criminal conspiracy,” all stemming from the allegations regarding Libya.