l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing to move to London to set up a billion pounds
plus investment fund, it was claimed today.
If the move goes ahead, the controversial Frenchman will become the latest
to escape a potential top tax rate of 75 per cent in his home country.
He and his former supermodel third wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy would be likely
to settle in an affluent district like South Kensington – so becoming the
most high profile Gallic celebrity couple in the city.
But the former president is under investigation for corruption in France,
and if he does cross the Channel there will be outrage.
Details of the planned move were uncovered during a raid by fraud police on
Sarkozy’s Paris mansion last June.
It came within weeks of Mr Sarkozy losing his immunity against prosecution
after being defeated by Socialist rival Francois Hollande in the May
presidential election.
Now the hugely respected investigative news site Mediapart reports that the
‘first draft’ of Mr Sarkozy’s London project was found by detectives
examining his computer files.
A judge has since made Sarkozy an assisted witness in the so-called
Bettencourt Affair, in which he is accused of using illegal cash from France
’s richest woman to fund his 2007 election campaign.
Mr Sarkozy is said to have taken the money from Liliane Bettencourt, the I’
Oreal heiress – a claim the politician denies, but for which he could
still receive a prison sentence.
He is also being investigated over numerous other funding scandals,
including one linked to arms sales to Pakistan, and another in which he is
said to have used millions in taxpayers’ money to pay friends to produce
opinion polls while he was in office.
Mediapart suggests that the planned London move would create a ‘conflict of
interest’ – not only because Sarkozy is being investigated, but because a
former French president should not choose the UK as a base to make his
fortune.
Bernard Arnault, the luxury goods magnate and France’s richest man who owns
property in London, and Hollywood star Gerard Depardieu are among Frenchmen
who have come under intense criticism for trying to escape Mr Hollande’s
new tax regime.
The socialist is introducing a top tax rate of 75 per cent on anyone earning
more than 1 million euros a year because he disapproves of the kind of vast
profits made by speculators in places like the City of London.
Mr Sarkozy, however, is a committed capitalist, whose close friends include
former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has himself earned millions since
leaving office.
The French former president’s new private equity fund would aim to raise 1
billion euros – something he hopes to achieve with the help of French
entrepreneur and political advisor Alain Minc.
Mr Sarkozy has recently had meetings with numerous movers and shakers in the
world of high finance during high-profile trips to places like Qatar and
London. But today Mr Sarkozy played down the Mediapart reports through his
aides, with one saying that they were the result of ‘intellectual
constructs’.
Like Mr Blair, the former head of state has always been extremely secretive
about his financial dealings, and would be unlikely to discuss a wealth fund
in public. | l******a
发帖数: 3803 | 2
likely
on
A while ago, France lost its watchmakers to Swiss neighbors
in the turmoil of religious persecution. It seems after that
this process has never really stopped. They just can't keep
brilliant ones within the border.
【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing to move to London to set up a billion pounds
: plus investment fund, it was claimed today.
: If the move goes ahead, the controversial Frenchman will become the latest
: to escape a potential top tax rate of 75 per cent in his home country.
: He and his former supermodel third wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy would be likely
: to settle in an affluent district like South Kensington – so becoming the
: most high profile Gallic celebrity couple in the city.
: But the former president is under investigation for corruption in France,
: and if he does cross the Channel there will be outrage.
: Details of the planned move were uncovered during a raid by fraud police on
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