A French multimillionaire artist was the first to take the stand Wednesday in the trial of 10 people accused of exploiting L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, just days after one defendant tried to kill himself.
Francois-Marie Banier, a 67-year-old photographer and author who is godfather to Johnny Depp's daughter, is suspected of having taken advantage of the frail, elderly and hugely wealthy Bettencourt, who showered him with gifts such as paintings by Picasso and Matisse.
He is one of 10 members of the 92-year-old's entourage to stand trial over what has become an explosive drama involving a bitter mother-daughter feud, a butler's betrayal and unscrupulous friends that even dragged in former president Nicolas Sarkozy.
- Suicide note read out -
The trial had been due to start Monday but was delayed over several procedural issues, just as the judge revealed that Alain Thurin, a former nurse for France's richest woman, tried to hang himself on the eve of the trial in the woods near his house.
On Wednesday, a suicide note written by the 64-year-old -- who is currently in a coma -- was read out to the courtroom in the southwestern city of Bordeaux.
He wrote that he had not wanted the help of a lawyer and thought he would be able to explain himself.
But "being faced with all these hotshot lawyers would be very difficult, especially without any proof," he added.
Banier, who was once a close confidant of Bettencourt, was the first to take the stand.
Born into a "conventional" family, he made in-roads into the artistic world aged only 22 when he published his first novel.
He became known in fashion circles, collaborating with the likes of Pierre Cardin and Yves Saint Laurent and rubbing shoulders with celebrities.
Banier met Bettencourt in 1987, and the wealthy heiress took him under her wing, lavishing him with gifts of paintings, life insurance funds and millions of euros in cash.
The woman whom Forbes magazine describes as the world's 12th richest person also made him her sole heir, a move she would later revoke.
Her daughter Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers filed charges against Banier in 2007 for exploiting her mother's growing mental fragility -- which the matriarch staunchly denied.
- 'Pleasure in giving money' -
Banier, who owns at least two flats in an upmarket part of Paris, two properties in Marrakesh and another in southern France, told the court he had assets and money "well before knowing Liliane Bettencourt."
"She found pleasure in giving the money," he said, adding that Bettencourt was in no way diminished mentally when he knew her.
Two of Banier's friends -- including the mother of singer and actress Vanessa Paradis -- gave testimony in court, describing his "seductive" personality and his love of others.
But former employees painted a different picture.
"He considered me as his thing, asked me to watch him work for hours," a former cook was quoted as saying in a testimony.
"He told me 'you're old, you're ugly', he liked to humiliate," another said.
Others due take the stand later include Patrice de Maistre, who managed Bettencourt's fortune.
He is accused of getting Bettencourt to hand over envelopes of cash to members of the conservative former ruling UMP party, such as his friend, Eric Woerth, a former minister and campaign treasurer of Sarkozy's 2007 presidential bid.
The affair tarnished the latter half of Sarkozy's presidency, and when he lost the 2012 election he was placed under formal investigation for illegal campaign financing and taking advantage of Bettencourt.
However the charges against Sarkozy were dropped in October 2013 due to lack of evidence.
Banier could be jailed for three years, and his life partner Martin d'Orgeval is also in the dock.
Bettencourt was declared unfit to run her own affairs in 2011 after a medical report showed she had suffered from "mixed dementia" and "moderately severe" Alzheimer's disease since 2006.
Bettencourt's father Eugene Schueller founded L'Oreal in 1909, starting with hair dye and later branching out to form the world's largest cosmetics company, famous for the advertising slogan "Because I'm Worth It."
A French multimillionaire artist was the first to take the stand Wednesday in the trial of 10 people accused of exploiting L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, just days after one defendant tried to kill himself.
Francois-Marie Banier, a 67-year-old photographer and author who is godfather to Johnny Depp’s daughter, is suspected of having taken advantage of the frail, elderly and hugely wealthy Bettencourt, who showered him with gifts such as paintings by Picasso and Matisse.
He is one of 10 members of the 92-year-old’s entourage to stand trial over what has become an explosive drama involving a bitter mother-daughter feud, a butler’s betrayal and unscrupulous friends that even dragged in former president Nicolas Sarkozy.
– Suicide note read out –
The trial had been due to start Monday but was delayed over several procedural issues, just as the judge revealed that Alain Thurin, a former nurse for France’s richest woman, tried to hang himself on the eve of the trial in the woods near his house.
On Wednesday, a suicide note written by the 64-year-old — who is currently in a coma — was read out to the courtroom in the southwestern city of Bordeaux.
He wrote that he had not wanted the help of a lawyer and thought he would be able to explain himself.
But “being faced with all these hotshot lawyers would be very difficult, especially without any proof,” he added.
Banier, who was once a close confidant of Bettencourt, was the first to take the stand.
Born into a “conventional” family, he made in-roads into the artistic world aged only 22 when he published his first novel.
He became known in fashion circles, collaborating with the likes of Pierre Cardin and Yves Saint Laurent and rubbing shoulders with celebrities.
Banier met Bettencourt in 1987, and the wealthy heiress took him under her wing, lavishing him with gifts of paintings, life insurance funds and millions of euros in cash.
The woman whom Forbes magazine describes as the world’s 12th richest person also made him her sole heir, a move she would later revoke.
Her daughter Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers filed charges against Banier in 2007 for exploiting her mother’s growing mental fragility — which the matriarch staunchly denied.
– ‘Pleasure in giving money’ –
Banier, who owns at least two flats in an upmarket part of Paris, two properties in Marrakesh and another in southern France, told the court he had assets and money “well before knowing Liliane Bettencourt.”
“She found pleasure in giving the money,” he said, adding that Bettencourt was in no way diminished mentally when he knew her.
Two of Banier’s friends — including the mother of singer and actress Vanessa Paradis — gave testimony in court, describing his “seductive” personality and his love of others.
But former employees painted a different picture.
“He considered me as his thing, asked me to watch him work for hours,” a former cook was quoted as saying in a testimony.
“He told me ‘you’re old, you’re ugly’, he liked to humiliate,” another said.
Others due take the stand later include Patrice de Maistre, who managed Bettencourt’s fortune.
He is accused of getting Bettencourt to hand over envelopes of cash to members of the conservative former ruling UMP party, such as his friend, Eric Woerth, a former minister and campaign treasurer of Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential bid.
The affair tarnished the latter half of Sarkozy’s presidency, and when he lost the 2012 election he was placed under formal investigation for illegal campaign financing and taking advantage of Bettencourt.
However the charges against Sarkozy were dropped in October 2013 due to lack of evidence.
Banier could be jailed for three years, and his life partner Martin d’Orgeval is also in the dock.
Bettencourt was declared unfit to run her own affairs in 2011 after a medical report showed she had suffered from “mixed dementia” and “moderately severe” Alzheimer’s disease since 2006.
Bettencourt’s father Eugene Schueller founded L’Oreal in 1909, starting with hair dye and later branching out to form the world’s largest cosmetics company, famous for the advertising slogan “Because I’m Worth It.”
