France will review the taxes of the richest woman in Europe

The fiscal problems of Liliane Bettencourt, heir to the cosmetics group L'Oreal, have reached Labour Minister Eric Woerth, who is in charge of a crucial state pension reform is one of the greatest talents of the cabinet of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
PARIS, June 27 .- France will conduct a complete review of tax returns of the wealthiest women in Europe, Liliane Bettencourt, today announced the budget minister, while a financial scandal of the heiress affect the Government.

Fiscal problems Bettencourt, heir to the cosmetics group L'Oreal, have reached Labour Minister Eric Woerth, who is in charge of a crucial state pension reform is one of the greatest talents of the cabinet of French President Nicolas Sarkozy .

Woerth's wife Bettencourt used to help manage their accounts and the minister has been accused of a conflict of interest by not ordering an investigation into taxes on multimillion old when he was budget minister, between 2007 and March 2010.

His successor in the Ministry of Budget, Francois Baroin, said the investigation would be conducted now, after one of his advisers Bettencourt told reporters that he had discovered an old bank account in Switzerland that had not been declared to the tax.

"The tax authorities will investigate all their revenues following revelations of his counsel," Baroin to Europe 1 radio.

"Get to the bottom of this.'ll Take the world to find what and where is (...) the law is equal for all and will be applied with force," he said.

Bettencourt, 87, has an estimated wealth well above the 10.000 billion euros (12.400 billion), which is managed by a team of experts.

The heiress has already said it will cooperate with the inquiry and that there were suggestions that he had broken the law knowingly.

The story came to the fore this week, after the French press published the transcript of conversations between Bettencourt and his advisers, who were secretly recorded by his butler.

Newspapers said those talks referred to shares in the Seychelles and Switzerland.

The butler made the recordings for Bettencourt's estranged daughter, who accused a photographer to take advantage of the "fragility" of his mother and deceive to strip it of 1,000 million euros. Bettencourt both the photographer and deny the accusations.

That case will go to trial next week, but the impact of family feud extended beyond the court and Woerth left fighting for his political career.

Recognized as one of the most competent ministers in the Government, Woerth received from the hands of Sarkozy's mission to reform the pension system, crucial par save the state's finances.

Opposition politicians have questioned the permanence of Woerth in a sensitive position due to his wife's connection with the ownership of Bettencourt and his own failure to investigate the heiress.