Police search Sarkozy HQ in L'Oreal scandal

Police from the financial investigations squad searched the Paris headquarters on yesterday afternoon, the party's leader Xavier Bertrand said, in the latest development of the months-long scandal.

Several judicial investigations are under way into affairs linked to Bettencourt's fortune, including allegations of tax evasion and illegal campaign funding that have implicated Labour Minister Eric Woerth.

The party's director general Eric Cesari told AFP the police had come to look for "correspondence between Eric Woerth and Patrice de Maistre", the manager of Bettencourt's 17-billion-euro fortune.

Woerth was previously UMP treasurer and head fundraiser for Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign. He has been accused of a conflict of interest because his wife worked for Maistre, helping manage the billionairess's estate.

Woerth denies any wrongdoing but has been politically weakened and the long-running investigation has undermined his and Sarkozy's attempt to push through pensions reform.

Cesari said police had announced their visit and spent an hour a half at the headquarters checking archives, but did not take anything with them.

The magazine Paris Match reported on its website that investigators were searching for a letter sent by Woerth to Sarkozy in March 2007 in which Woerth called for Maistre to receive France's top state honour, the Legion d'Honneur.