L'Oreal Heiress Placed Under Guardianship

French police on Wednesday searched the home of the daughter of L'Oreal cosmetics heiress Liliane Bettencourt amid probes into the billionaire's financial affairs, a judicial official said.The search targeted the home of Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers, the estranged daughter of the 87-year-old heiress, in the upmarket Paris suburb of Neuilly.Le Figaro newspaper website said the aim of the police raid was to find out what prompted Liliane Bettencourt's butler to secretly record his employer's conversations.

PARIS — A judge on Thursday filed preliminary charges against former President Nicolas Sarkozy in a campaign finance case, formally placing him under investigation over allegations that he illegally took donations from France’s richest woman on way to his 2007 election victory.

L'Oréal SA heiress Liliane Bettencourt and her daughter said Monday they have resolved their differences, ending a series of lawsuits that could have jeopardized French control of the cosmetics giant,

Billionaire L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt has reconciled with her daughter Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers, they announced Monday, ending a legal wrangle that endangered France's biggest fortune.Bettencourt-Meyers had been seeking to have her 88-year-old mother declared mentally unfit to manage the estimated 17-billion-euro fortune and had sued a society photographer, accusing him of exploiting his ties to the family.But on Monday the feuding relatives issued a joint statement which said they had come to a "private agreement" to end all ongoing court cases.

Billionaire L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, 88, is to be placed under her family's guardianship over concerns about her mental health.

A French photographer defended himself Wednesday against accusations of being a gold digger after he received nearly one billion euros in gifts from France's richest woman, Liliane Bettencourt.Bettencourt's daughter last week filed suit in court, arguing that her mother, the elderly heiress to the L'Oreal cosmetics fortune, was mentally incompetent and her affairs should be placed under judicial supervision.

A French photographer defended himself Wednesday against accusations of being a gold digger after he received nearly one billion euros in gifts from France's richest woman, Liliane Bettencourt.Bettencourt's daughter last week filed suit in court, arguing that her mother, the elderly heiress to the L'Oreal cosmetics fortune, is mentally incompetent and her affairs should be placed under judicial supervision.

Doctors say a brain disease has made L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt unable to run her affairs and she must be placed under enhanced legal guardianship, a source close to the affair said on Tuesday.The claim came as the battle heated up between the 89-year-old billionaire and her daughter Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers, who has taken legal action alleging that her mother is prey to hangers-on who want to defraud her.