Until now, she was a witness, but she is now a suspect. Thursday May 2, 2024, as learned The world and BFMTV from judicial sources, Carla Bruni went to the premises of the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption and Financial and Tax Offenses (OCLCIFF) to be questioned. The singer and model is currently being heard in a “free hearing of accused persons” as part of the judicial investigation concerning the retraction of Ziad Takieddine. This means that she can end this hearing at any time, but also that the judicial police can decide to place her in police custody. if necessary. But why is Carla Bruni being heard in this specific part of the investigation into suspicions of Libyan financing of the presidential campaign of her husband, Nicolas Sarkozy, in 2007?
The investigation into the false retraction of Ziad Takieddine continues
If the main investigation is closed – the former head of state will be tried in 2025 for “concealment of embezzlement of public funds”, “passive corruption”, “illegal financing of an electoral campaign” and “criminal association” – that on the conditions of Ziad Takieddine’s retraction continue. As a reminder, the Franco-Lebanese businessman was for years the main accuser of Nicolas Sarkozy in that case. But in 2020, while he was on the run in Lebanon to escape a prison sentence, he said in an interview with BFMTV and Paris Match that the ex-President did not receive any money from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Comments which go against his constant declarations since 2016, and which have not entirely convinced the courts. The investigators are in fact convinced that the Sarkozy camp has promised a large sum of money to Ziad Takieddine in exchange for his retraction, collected and filmed by the famous Mimi Marchand, a figure in the French celebrity press. Nicolas Sarkozy was also indicted in this second part of the affair, for “concealment of witness tampering” and “criminal association”.
How did Carla Bruni find herself in the crosshairs of justice?
In June 2021, Mimi Marchand was also indicted for these same charges. During her interview with investigators, she justified her numerous trips to Nicolas Sarkozy’s home by her desire to visit his wife, with whom she is very friendly. This is where investigations turn to Carla Bruni. Several elements collected in recent years sow doubt as to the star’s involvement in this retraction of Ziad Takieddine. First of all, it is thanks to her that Mimi Marchand and her teams were able to get to Beirut in time for the businessman’s interview. Indeed, the singer had used her connections to speed up the process of PCR tests, still necessary to travel in October 2020, because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Another element which raises questions: the investigation showed that Carla Bruni had deleted all of her messages with Mimi Marchand, dating from before his indictment. Since then, the two friends have been chatting via the secure messaging service Signal, which has an automatic data deletion system after a defined time. Today, Carla Bruni is therefore, at the very least, suspected of having played the intermediary between the different protagonists in this affair of false retraction.