A Swiss judge is looking into whether L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt knowingly consented to transfer her island in the Seychelles to a foundation or was swindled by associates, a Geneva daily reported on Wednesday.
Switzerland is cooperating with French authorities in their politically-charged investigation into the possible misuse of the financial assets of Europe’s wealthiest woman.
"The prosecutor of Nanterre has asked for the assistance of Swiss justice to determine whether the l’Oreal heiress validly consented to hand over her island in the Seychelles to a foundation (in Liechtenstein)," Le Temps reported.
The heiress may have agreed to transfer the island in a complex operation in order to "regularise" her tax situation, the paper added.
The beneficiary of the island is now a Liechtenstein-based conservation foundation called "Protector", according to the Swiss paper.
Bettencourt has acknowledged the existence of undeclared Swiss bank accounts and says she will repatriate the 78 million euros ($100 million) held in them and settle up with the French tax authorities.
What began as a family feud between Bettencourt and her estranged daughter Francoise has exploded into a series of investigations concerning political donations, suspected tax evasion and money laundering that has shaken the French government of President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Geneva judge Jean-Bernard Schmid told Reuters on Tuesday that he had ordered premises searched and documents seized in connection with the probe, but declined to confirm a report by Lausanne daily Le Matin that two Swiss law firms and a private bank were his targets.
Le Temps on Wednesday republished comments from a lawyer at one of the law firms that appeared in the newspaper last month.
The lawyer in question said the island operation had been set up with the "express consent" of Bettencourt and that the aim of the deal was to regularise a tax situation which had been irregular until then.
Neither Schmid nor the lawyer were immediately available to comment on Wednesday.
