www.zerohedge.com 
According to AFP, former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was indicted for “criminal association” in the ongoing investigation into suspicions of receiving Libyan money for his presidential campaign in 2007.
After four days of hearings, the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) indicted Sarkozy, on Monday (Oct. 12), with “criminal association” in the Libyan case. The release of PNF’s indictment was only made public on Friday (Oct. 16).
To refresh readers, French newspaper Le Monde provides an overview of recent developments into the Sarkozy scandal:
But the PNF signed at the end of January a supplementary indictment broadening the investigations to facts of “criminal association,” opening the way to the indictment of new suspects and an aggravation of the prosecutions against the protagonists already involved, including Mr. Sarkozy.
On Jan. 31, the magistrates indicted for “criminal association,” one of the former collaborators of Mr. Sarkozy, Thierry Gaubert , suspected of having received funds from the Libyan regime which could have fueled the campaign for the presidential election of 2007.
During his last hearing, in June 2019, Mr. Sarkozy said he was “totally innocent in this affair,” denounced a “conspiracy,” then refused to answer the questions of the investigating magistrates, the time of the examination of appeal aimed at cancel the investigation.
But a judgment of the Paris Court of Appeal of Sept. 24 made it possible to relaunch the investigation: the investigating chamber, responsible for studying appeals against investigative acts, rejected most of the arguments of the Sarkozy camp which invoked nullities against these investigations. It has thus almost entirely validated the investigations launched eight years ago in this case with multiple ramifications.
Mr. Sarkozy appealed against this decision, just like Eric Woerth, Claude Guéant and Alexandre Djouhri, said a judicial source. – Le Monde
Sarkozy – who was president of France from 2007 until 2012 – is said to have accepted around €50MM from Muammar Gaddafi, Libya’s overthrown leader, was captured and killed in 2011. As we noted, the amount was more than twice the legal spending limit in French elections for the time, which was €21MM. Gaddafi’s alleged payments to Sarkozy also violated foreign financing laws and declares the source of campaign funds.
In 2018, Sarkozy was arrested and also indicted for “corruption,” “concealment of embezzlement of [Libyan] public funds,” and “illicit financing of the electoral campaign.”
If Sarkozy were smart enough, maybe he should’ve opened up a foundation – like the Clinton’s to accept foreign bribes donations.
