【英语国际】萨科奇卷入女富豪政治献金丑闻

French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he wants to talk about pension and health-care reform.

The French opposition -- and even now some of his own party -- want him to talk about a series of allegations over his links to the nation's richest woman.

They are referring to allegations that his ruling UMP party received envelopes filled with cash from Liliane Bettencourt, heiress of French cosmetics group L'Oreal SA.

A spokesman for Mr. Sarkozy said the allegations were 'totally false.' Ms. Bettencourt has said in recent weeks that she helped to finance the UMP within legal limits. A spokeswoman for the 87-year-old said Tuesday that Ms. Bettencourt didn't wish to comment on the latest allegations.

Mr. Sarkozy has been criticized in France for a flashy lifestyle. This is particularly grating now, because he is cutting public spending and asking the French to retire later in life in order to reduce the budget deficit.

The political-financing allegations stem from a complaint that Ms. Bettencourt's only child, Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers, has filed against a friend of her mother, saying he exploited her mental weakness to obtain sumptuous gifts.

To support her complaint, Ms. Bettencourt-Meyers cited secret recordings of conversations between Ms. Bettencourt and her wealth manager, Patrice de Maistre, that were made by a former butler of Ms. Bettencourt.

A French prosecutor in Nan terre, near Paris, has decided to investigate the content of these recordings because, in the conversations, Mr. de Maistre alludes to fiscal fraud and talks about financing UMP politicians.

Another former employee of Ms. Bettencourt caused the latest twist in the affair. On Monday, a former accountant of Ms. Bettencourt, Claire Thibout, made fresh allegations about political financing when she was questioned by police over missing ledgers in Ms. Bettencourt's financial records.

Ms. Thibout, according to her lawyer, told police that, in the heat of the 2007 presidential race, she had been instructed by Mr. de Maistre to withdraw 150,000 euros ($188,000) in cash from Ms. Bettencourt's bank account -- and that this money had been destined to help finance Mr. Sarkozy's campaign.

The spokeswoman for the Nanterre prosecutor confirmed the content of Ms. Thibout's declarations to the police.

Mr. de Maistre, 'formally denied' Ms. Thibout's allegations on Tuesday, according to the office of his lawyer. Mr. de Maistre repeated his denial when questioned by police Tuesday, people familiar with the matter said.

法国总统萨科奇(Nicolas Sarkozy)说他想谈养老金和医疗改革的问题。

国内的反对派（现在甚至还包括他自己党派的人）却希望他谈一下一系列针对他与法国最富有女人之间的联系的指控。

他们指的是萨科奇的执政党──人民运动联盟(UMP)被控收到了法国化妆品集团──欧莱雅公司(L'Oreal SA)的女继承人贝当古(Liliane Bettencourt) 提供的装满现金的信封。

萨科奇的发言人说这些指控“纯属捏造”。近几周，现年87岁的贝当古曾说她在符合法律的范围内帮助向UMP提供了资金。周二，她的发言人说她不愿就最新的指控发表评论。

因生活方式奢华，萨科奇在法国国内受到批评。现在的批评更为激烈，因为萨科奇正在削减公共开支并要求法国人推迟退休以降低预算赤字。

这些与政治资金有关的指控源于贝当古的独女贝当古-梅耶斯(Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers)起诉她母亲的一个朋友，称他利用她母亲精神上的弱点获取了巨额的馈赠。

为了支持她的说法，贝当古-梅耶斯提供了贝当古与她的理财经理梅斯特尔(Patrice de Maistre)之间的对话录音。这是贝当古以前的男管家秘密录制的。

法国巴黎附近楠泰尔地区的一名检察官决定调查这些录音的内容，因为梅斯特尔在这些对话中含沙射影地提到了财务欺诈行为，并谈到了向UMP政客提供资金的事。

贝当古的另一名前雇员导致这一事件更加复杂。周一，警方询问贝当古以前的会计蒂布(Claire Thibout)有关贝当古的账务记录中分类账的去向时，蒂布提出了新的政治献金的指控。

据她的律师说，蒂布告诉警方，在2007年总统选举最激烈的时候，梅斯特尔指示她从贝当古的银行账户中提取150,000欧元（合188,000美元）的现金，这些现金最终用于资助萨科奇的竞选。

检察官的发言人证实了蒂布向警方陈述的内容。

梅斯特尔的律师办公室说，梅斯特尔周二正式否认了蒂布的指控。知情人士透露，周二接受警方质询时，梅斯特尔再次否认这一指控。