Guardian Recommended for L'Oreal Heiress

Doctors have advised appointing a guardian to oversee the affairs of the 88-year-old L'Oreal heiress, a French newspaper said today, in a twist to a legal feud that could affect the running of the cosmetics giant.

Le Monde daily cited medical assessments carried out in November and filed with a French court last month as saying that Liliane Bettencourt, Europe's richest woman, was suffering a "degeneration in her mental and physical faculties".

L'Oreal declined to comment on the report. It was confirmed, however, by lawyers for the billionaire's daughter, Francoise Meyers-Bettencourt, who has tried to have her declared a ward of court.

Bettencourt, ranked by Forbes as the world's 15th-richest person, said in an interview with weekend newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche on Sunday that she was in fine mental health and said she was more concerned about her daughter's condition.

The Bettencourts hold a nearly 31 percent stake in L'Oreal and the dispute has raised questions over the long-term solidity of the family as a core shareholder. The case also sparked a political funding investigation last year.

Legal sources said it was unclear at this stage how the case could proceed and said France's highest court was due to meet on June 20 to decide whether a wardship judge can appoint a custodian.

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Guardian Recommended for L'Oreal Heiress

L'Oreal Heiress Loses Attempt to Free Herself From Daughter's Guardianship

Liliane Bettencourt lost a bid to remove her daughter and grandsons as her physical and financial guardians, a French court said in rejecting the L’Oreal SA heiress’s appeal.

The three will continue in their roles, the appeals court in Versailles, near Paris, said in refusing to alter the October decision by a family court judge who said Bettencourt wasn’t mentally fit to manage her own affairs.

“This decision reasserts Madame Liliane Bettencourt’s protection and the family’s duties,” her daughter, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, and grandsons said in an e-mailed statement. Bettencourt is “protected from the pressure and solicitation that she has suffered for too long.”

[The] decision is the latest in a longstanding feud between the 89-year-old and her daughter. Bettencourt, France’s third-richest person, is the only child of L’Oreal’s founder. The family owns almost 31 percent of the world’s largest cosmetics maker through a holding company.

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L'Oreal Heiress Loses Bid to End Daughter's Guardianship

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Photographer Charged Over L'Oreal Heiress

L'Oreal Case Back in the News!

The daughter of France’s richest woman, L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, is once again trying to have her mother made a ward of court in an effort to protect her inheritance. The scandal has dominated French headlines since summer 2010.

The legal battle between L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt and her daughter Francoise Meyers has re-erupted.

On Wednesday French daily Le Monde reported that Meyers had made a fresh application for her mother to be made a ward of court (effectively under the guardianship of a judge), an issue that was apparently resolved in December 2010. Meyer states that she is seeking to protect the estate and her eventual inheritance.

The application, according to the newspaper, centres on the role of Pascal Wilhelm, a lawyer who has a “mandate for future protection” which effectively makes him the executor of Bettencourt’s estate should she become incapable of managing it herself.

Meyer has long argued that her mother should be made a ward of court and is seeking to have Wilhelm’s control over her estate curtailed.

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L'Oreal Heiress Scandal is Back in the Headlines

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A Deal is Reached in the L'Oreal Case

Two Questioned in L'Oreal Heiress Abuse Probe

French police Monday detained L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt's ex-lawyer and a businessman for questioning in a probe into allegations of abuse of power, a source close to the matter said.

Police are investigating whether the lawyer, Pascal Wilhelm, and reality TV entrepreneur Stephane Courbit took advantage of the 89-year-old heiress, who last year was placed under guardianship, to secure an investment in Courbit's LOV Group.

Bettencourt's former nurse, Alain Thurin, was also detained for questioning, the source said.

The 143-million-euro ($180-million) investment saw Bettencourt buy 20 percent of the group in May 2011, a few months before courts placed her under family guardianship because of her declining mental health.

Wilhelm, who is also Courbit's lawyer, is alleged to have arranged the transaction for the businessman -- an entertainment magnate who launched reality television in France with a local version of the programme "Big Brother".

Courbit recently told Le Monde newspaper that he was aware of the investment but had not spoken with Bettencourt about it.

Bettencourt, France's richest woman, was placed under guardianship in October, ending a long legal battle over her vast fortune, estimated to be worth more than 16 billion euros.

Her family, including estranged daughter Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers, had long accused advisors of taking advantage of the heiress.

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French Police Detain Two Over L'Oreal Heiress 'Abuse'

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L'Oreal Heiress Loses Attempt to Free Herself from Her Daughter's Guardianship

Family Feud & the L'Oreal Billions

The daughter of Europe's richest woman has asked that her mother be placed under judicial supervision, BBC News reported.

Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers, 56, insists that her 87-year-old mother's lavish gifts to a friend -- totaling about $1.5 billion -- raise serious questions about her state of mind.

Liliane Bettencourt's fortune derives from her sizable stake in cosmetics giant L'Oreal. In 2009, Forbes estimated her worth at $13.4 billion, and declared her the 21st richest person on the planet.

Such wealth would seem to be virtually inexhaustible. But over the last few years, said the BBC, Bettencourt has showered huge quantities of money and gifts upon Francois-Marie Banier, a 62-year-old photographer and artist.

Bettencourt-Meyers has pressed charges against Banier, accusing him of manipulating her elderly mother and treating the cosmetics heiress as a human ATM. That case will come to court next week, said the BBC.

If convicted, Banier could serve up to three years in prison, said The New York Times. The charge is what the French call "abus de faiblesse" -- the exploitation of physical or psychological weakness for personal gain.

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Family Feud Over L'Oreal Billions

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Bitter L'Oreal Family Feud Set to Get Court Hearing

Photographer Charged Over L'Oreal Heiress

A French court has charged a celebrity photographer with abusing his relationship with aged L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt after he was named a beneficiary in her will.

Photographer Francois-Marie Banier and his partner Martin d'Orgeval were charged in the city of Bordeaux on Wednesday and released on bail, their lawyers said.

The two denied the charge and said any financial benefits they obtained from their relationship with Bettencourt were given of her own free will, the lawyers, Pierre Cornut-Gentille and Jean-Alain Michel, said.

Advertisement: Story continues below Bettencourt, France's richest woman, was placed under the guardianship of family members in October amid reports her mental health at 89 is declining.

The guardianship ended a long legal battle over her vast fortune, estimated to be worth more than 16 billion euros ($A20 billion).

The family, including estranged daughter Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers, had long accused Banier of taking advantage of the heiress.

Banier was named a beneficiary in Bettencourt's will drawn up in December 2007. But Bettencourt broke with Banier earlier this year, cutting him out of her will and depriving him of an estimated 1.25 billion euros.

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Photographer Charged Over L'Oreal Heiress

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L'Oreal Heiress Guardianized!

A Deal is Reached in the L'Oreal Case

France's richest woman and her daughter have resolved a protracted legal dispute over more than euro1 billion ($1.3 billion) that swelled into a national scandal and raised questions about the future of the family fortune, lawyers said.

"There is no more case as far as we are concerned," lawyer Olivier Metzner told The Associated Press.

L'Oreal cosmetics heiress Liliane Bettencourt, 88, and her daughter Francoise Bettencourt Meyers have reconciled, Metzner said, adding, "We are bringing an end to all procedures given this familial reunion."

The daughter had publicly accused photographer Francois-Marie Banier of abusing her mother's alleged mental frailty and abusing her trust to bilk Liliane Bettencourt out of euro1 billion ($1.3 billion) in cash, artworks and other gifts. Banier, a longtime friend of Bettencourt's, has insisted he did not take advantage of her, but the dispute prompted a string of legal cases.

Metzner said the photographer "has renounced many of the benefits he received. And we are renouncing any procedure regarding him."

The photographer's lawyer confirmed an agreement was signed, but provided no details.

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Peace Pact Resolves Ugly Family Feud at L'Oreal

Accused of Bilking France's Richest Woman

A French court ordered a photographer accused of bilking France's richest woman out of cash and art worth euro1 billion ($1.5 billion) to stand trial for exploitation.

Francoise Bettencourt Meyers has waged a two-year legal campaign against the man she accuses of taking advantage of Liliane Bettencourt, her 87-year-old mother and the heiress to the French cosmetics giant L'Oreal, including a failed attempt to have her mother put under court-ordered supervision.

On Friday, a court ruled that Francois-Marie Banier, 62, will be tried April 16-17 for exploitation. He faces up to three years in jail and a euro75,000 fine.

"This trial will really show that Francois-Marie Banier abused a fragile woman," said Olivier Metzner, the lawyer for Bettencourt Meyers said.

Banier's lawyer, Herve Temime, said his client wasn't afraid of prosecution. "He's in a hurry to be absolved of this defamation," he said.

The Nanterre criminal court also ordered Liliane Bettencourt to undergo a medical examination before March 10.

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Photographer Accused of Bilking L'Oreal Heiress Out of $1.5 Billion Ordered to Stand Trial

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Family Feud and the L'Oreal Billions

L'Oreal Heiress Refuses Court-Ordered Testing

A lawyer for France's richest woman says his client, L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, has refused to undergo medical tests aimed at determining whether she was in a weak state when she lavished a friend with $1.44 billion in gifts and cash.

A judge ordered 87-year-old Bettencourt to undergo the tests before the April trial of her friend, Francois-Marie Barnier. The 62-year-old photographer faces exploitation charges stemming from allegations by Bettencourt's daughter that Barnier took advantage of the elderly billionaire's fragility to bilk her.

Bettencourt's attorney, Georges Kiejman, said she will not undergo the medical tests, which were supposed to be carried out before March 10.

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L'Oreal Heiress Refusing Medical Treatment

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Accused of Bilking France's Richest Woman

Update on L'Oreal Case

It’s been more than 18 months since the daughter of France’s richest woman sued to protect her from a man described as a “dandy” who had received more than $1 billion (U.S. value) in gifts from the owner of cosmetic giant L’Oreal.

The daughter of 87-year-old Liliane Bettencourt sued Francois-Marie Banier, a 63-year old (male) celebrity photographer who reportedly has befriended Johnny Depp, Salvador Dali and others. Banier claims the lavish gifts of cash and art masterpieces were given to him by Bettencourt when she was mentally competent as a thank-you for his years of friendship and help as an advisor.

Bettencourt’s daughter, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, was permitted to sue Banier criminally last year. This means that if she wins her lawsuit, Banier will not only have to return the money, but also face jail time. The case was set for trial late last week.

There was already plenty of intrigue surrounding the famous fortune fight over the person who ranks as number 20 on Forbes’ annual list of richest people. (Bettencourt has a reported net worth of $20 billion.) But, to make it more interesting, the trial was postponed indefinitely because of new evidence.

What evidence you ask? Bettencourt’s butler had been sneaking a tape recorder into the room with her when he served refreshments. With this recorder, he obtained hours of audiotape from secret meetings between Bettencourt and her advisors.

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Trial Over L'Oreal Heiress Sparks French Political Scandal

L'Oreal Heiress Guardianized!

Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers seized control of the L'Oréal SA fortune Monday after her mother, Liliane Bettencourt, heiress to the cosmetics giant, was placed under guardianship, a victory for the daughter in an acrimonious family tug-of-war over an inheritance valued at €15 billion ($20.82 billion).

A judge in the Paris suburb of Courbevoie decided that the aging billionaire needed protection after reviewing a medical report stating that Ms. Bettencourt's mental health was failing, and that she was showing symptoms of dementia, lawyers involved in the case said.

Ms. Meyers had accused members of her mother's entourage of manipulating the frail widow, who will turn 89 on Friday. A separate legal investigation is under way to determine whether this was the case.

The assets of Ms. Bettencourt will be managed by her estranged daughter and her two grandsons. The eldest grandson, Jean-Victor Meyers, was appointed guardian.

Ms. Bettencourt will appeal the decision, her lawyer, Jean-René Farthouat, said. "She wants to be left in peace," he said.

One of Ms. Meyers's first duties will be to decide with her two sons whether the heiress can continue to serve on the L'Oréal board, a person familiar with the matter said. L'Oréal declined to comment.

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Heiress Loses L'Oreal Family Fight

Liliane Bettencourt Exits Family Business

Liliane Bettencourt, heiress of cosmetics giant L’Oreal and France’s richest woman, has quit the board of the family business and will be replaced by her grandson.

The move comes a few months after it was found that the 89-year-old is suffering from “mixed dementia” and “modestly severe” Alzheimer’s. She was put under the guardianship of her daughter, Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers, and grandsons in October last year.

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Bettencourt Exits Family Business

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L'Oreal Heiress Loses Attempt to Free Herself From Daughter's Guardianship

Judge goes after Sarkozy over alleged elder abuse

PARIS -- Allies of former President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed shock and “incomprehension”yesterday after he was informed on Thursday that he would face a formal investigation into whether he abused the frailty of Liliane Bettencourt, 90, the heiress to the L’Oreal fortune and France’s richest woman, to get funds for his 2007 presidential campaign.

Sarkozy has denied accepting illegal campaign money from Bettencourt, either personally or through his party treasurer at the time, Eric Woerth, as alleged by Bettencourt’s former butler.

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Judge goes after Sarkozy over alleged elder abuse