Sarkozy faces probe over donation claims Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French president, has been placed under formal investigation in a probe into allegations of illicit political party donations involving Liliane Bettencourt, the billionaire heiress to the L'Oréal cosmetics empire. In a surprise development in the case, the Bordeaux court carrying out the investigation said Mr Sarkozy had been placed under formal investigation on suspicion of "abuse of weakness" - or taking advantage of the nonagenarian Mrs Bettencourt, whose financial affairs are now under the guardianship of her grandson. It said Mr Sarkozy, who has always strongly denied any wrongdoing, enjoyed the presumption of innocence. But being placed under investigation is a final step before the court decides whether or not to file charges. The move against Mr Sarkozy, who was defeated in presidential elections last May by François Hollande, stunned the country's political establishment. The court had indicated he was unlikely to face prosecution, having placed him under the lesser status of an assisting witness after a day-long interrogation last November. But he was summoned back to the court on Thursday to confront other witnesses in the case and placed under the new status at the end of the hearing before being allowed to return to Paris. The judges are examining allegations that €150,000 in cash was passed in February 2007, during his successful election campaign that year, to Mr Sarkozy's campaign treasurer by Ms Bettencourt's then wealth manager, in contravention of France's election rules. Both those men are among several people already under formal investigation as part of a wider inquiry into claims that Ms Bettencourt was taken advantage of by her associates before the courts placed her affairs into guardianship. Mr Sarkozy denies allegations that he had secret meetings with Ms Bettencourt during the period and has described the allegations implicating him as a "stink bomb" got up by his political rivals. He insists the official election accounts commission had certified his campaign finances, saying "not one centime" was disputed. Thierry Herzog, his lawyer, said the court's move was "judicially incoherent and unjust" and that he would immediately appeal for it to be annulled. But the affair throws a serious shadow over Mr Sarkozy just as polls were showed that his popularity was starting to outstrip that of Mr Hollande. The former president has mainly kept a low profile since he was defeated last May, making discreet speaking appearances at private conferences around the world. But he suggested in an interview this month that he might seek to return to the political stage in time to challenge Mr Hollande in the next presidential election in 2017. He has also been weighing approaches to go into business, notably a proposal from the Qatari sovereign wealth fund and other investors who have offered to commit up to E500m to a private equity fund to be headed by Mr Sarkozy. Mr Sarkozy is the second former French president to face judicial proceedings. In 2011, Jacques Chirac was handed a suspended two-year prison term in a case in which he was accused of creating phantom jobs for friends and allies when he was mayor of Paris.