The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was held by the police on March 20, 2018, having been accused of receiving $59 millions illegally from Libya’s late dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Sarkozy was arrested by the judicial police in Paris and transported to its headquarters in Nanterre. Sarkozy allegedly received kickbacks from Gaddafi in 2007, during his ultimately victorious presidential run.
Under French law, presidential candidates are barred from receiving cash payments over £6,300 and Sarkozy now has 48 hours to explain the payments before he is potentially charged with a corruption charge.
It is said that the Gaddafi payment was laundered through Panama and Switzerland bank accounts.
Nicolas Sarkozy was arrested over claims he received £42m in illegal payments from Gaddafi
Here is all the information on Nicolas Sarkozy including his net worth, height and marriage to Carla Bruni.
Who is Nicolas Sarkozy?
Nicolas Paul Stephane Sarkozy de Nagy-Bocsa was born on January 28, 1955 in Paris. His father, Pal Sarkozy was from Hungarian aristocracy and made his money in the advertising industry, while his mother, Andree Mallah, was of Greek-Jewish descent. After Sarkozy’s father left the family in 1959, Andree raised their three children on her own.
Nicolas Sarkozy has been married three times: Marie-Dominique Culioli, Cecilia Ciganer-Albeniz and, most recently, Carla Bruni, to whom he has been married since 2008.
He has two sons from his first marriage, a son from his second, and a daughter from his third. Nicolas Sarkozy is 1.65m (5ft5in) tall.
Sarkozy graduated from the Universite Paris X Nanterre with an MA in private law and went on to practise family law.
At the age of 23, Sarkozy became a city councillor in Neuilly-sur-Seine and subsequently went on to become the city’s mayor, at the age of 28. During his early career, Sarkozy was frequently seen as a protege of Jacques Chirac, although the two would later become rivals.
While President, Nicolas Sarkozy married Italian model/singer, Carla Bruni, in February 2008
Throughout the 2000s, Sarkozy’s political CV included roles as the French Minister of the Interior, the Finance Minister and, in 2004, as the leader of the UMP.
In January 2007, UMP unanimously chose Sarkozy as their presidential candidate. His main rival was the Socialist Party’s Segolene Royal, whom he beat in the second round of voting with 53.06 percent of the vote.
On May 6, 2007 Sarkozy was inaugurated as the sixth President of the Fifth Republic, and the 23rd French President.
During his one term as president, Sarkozy implemented many financial, employment and taxation changes.
He relaxed France’s rules surrounding the 35-hour working week, raised the age of retirement to 62 and changed the laws surrounding creation of new businesses.
However, his presidency was plagued by several scandals. In 2008, Sarkozy’s control of his own party weakened after he tried to get his press officer, David Martinon, elected as mayor of Neuilly. The city ultimately went against Martinon and chose Jean-Christophe Fromantin, an independent.
Nicolas Sarkozy lost the 2012 French Presidential election to Socialist leader Francois Hollande
The following year, Sarkozy tried to get his then 23-year-old son, Jean, promoted to President of EPAD, the body that oversees Paris’s finance district, La Defense.
In 2012, Sarkozy became the first president not to be re-elected as president since 1981. He lost to Socialist leader Francois Hollande.
In 2014, Sarkozy was placed under formal investigation, accused of trying to influence senior judges. In August 2017, Sarkozy was probed over claims he took bribes to help Qatar win the 2022 World Cup bid.
In March 2018, it was revealed that Sarkozy was held in custody over claims that he accepted illegal payments totalling £42 million from Colonel Gaddafi.
New life, new challenges ! You’re going to love it ! I wish you the best, Dear @BarackObama. pic.twitter.com/66VRJmY9H4
— Nicolas Sarkozy (@NicolasSarkozy) January 20, 2017What is Nicolas Sarkozy’s net worth?
Nicolas Sarkozy’s net worth is estimated to be $12 million (£8.5m), according to Celebrity Net Worth.
In May 2007, Sarkozy declared to the Constitutional Council that his net worth came to €2 million (£1.75m).
He was voted 11th most powerful person in Forbes’s 2011 Powerful People list.
How did Nicolas Sarkozy make his money?
As President, Sarkozy increased his salary by 140 percent to €240,000 (£210,000) a year.
After losing the 2012 election, Sarkozy was entitled to the €6,000-a-month (£4,800) pension, and a further €11,500 a month (£10,000) from sitting on the constitutional council.
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