Judge questions Sarkozy in campaign finance probe

France's ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy appeared before a judge Thursday to respond to charges that his 2007 electoral campaign was financed with funds secured illegally from France's richest woman. Sarkozy arrived for the hearing in a dark grey Renault minivan just before 9:15 am (0815 GMT), an AFP correspondent said. In a case that could wreck the 57-year-old's hopes of a political comeback, Sarkozy is suspected of taking financial advantage of elderly L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt at a time when she was too frail to fully understand what she was doing. Sarkozy's appearance comes with his right-wing UMP party in turmoil after the battle to replace him degenerated into mud-slinging and both contenders claimed victory. Examining magistrate Jean-Michel Gentil is expected to spend most of the day quizzing Sarkozy about how he obtained funding from Bettencourt. Judicial sources have told AFP that Sarkozy could be formally indicted on a charge of taking advantage of someone in a position of weakness, although the magistrate also has the option of interrogating him as a witness under caution. Bettencourt is now 90 and has been in poor health since 2006. The allegation against Sarkozy is two-fold: that the money obtained from her took his campaign financing over legal limits and that it had been secured without her full knowledge or consent. This latter claim was made by Bettencourt's former accountant, Claire Thibout in 2010. She told police that she had handed 150,000 euros in cash to Bettencourt's right-hand man, Patrice de Maistre, on the understanding it was to be passed on to Sarkozy's campaign treasurer, Eric Woerth. Maistre withdrew a total of four million euros in cash from Bettencourt's Swiss bank account in seven instalments between 2007 and 2009. Investigators suspect some or all of the money could have found its way to Sarkozy or his party. In July, the examining magistrate ordered the seizure of Sarkozy's diaries in order to establish what he was doing around the time the cash was being moved. Claude Gueant, a close ally of Sarkozy who served as his interior minister, said the courts needed to show why his questioning was necessary. "I would like to be absolutely convinced that this hearing is essential," he told RTL radio, insisting there was no chance of illegal campaign financing because of "extremely rigorous" controls put in place. French authorities confirmed this week they have also opened a preliminary investigation over the management of opinion polls carried out during Sarkozy's 2007-12 term as president. That probe was triggered by anti-graft organisation Anticor, which suspects the former president of having handed the contract for the polls to a company, Publifact, run by his former advisor Patrick Buisson, and of using public funds to carry out his own party political electoral research. Sarkozy has not ruled out another tilt at the presidency in 2017 after he lost to Socialist Francois Hollande in this year's vote. Efforts to find a replacement for the charismatic Sarkozy within his party have descended into chaos, with ex-prime minister Francois Fillon announcing Wednesday he was contesting the result of a bitter race won by party secretary general Jean-Francois Cope. Fillon said votes not counted from some French overseas territories would have handed him victory and has urged party heavyweight Alain Juppe to step in as interim leader. Cope, a close ally of Sarkozy, insists he won the vote and has called for party unity.