The mega-wealthy L’Oreal heiress, her butler’s tapes, a €1 billion gift and a disgruntled daughter

RECORDINGS of L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt’s conversations about political dealings and Swiss bank accounts may play a key role at a trial over whether the 87-year-old was manipulated into giving a friend about €1 billion in gifts.

The tape recordings, made in secret by a former butler beginning in May 2009, have drawn politicians, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Labour Minister Eric Woerth, into the family dispute and raised questions about whether tax authorities ignored reports Bettencourt had €78 million hidden in Swiss accounts. Woerth’s wife worked for a firm managing Bettencourt’s estate.

“This is unheard of,” said Laurent Dubois, a professor at Paris’s Institute of Political Studies. “This is the first and only time, all in the public sphere,” to have such a blend of business, family and political dramas.