An unnamed shareholder in L’Oréal has filed a legal complaint against the company, alleging “misuse of company funds” in awarding a ten-year artistic consultancy contract worth 405,000 euros a year to François-Marie Banier in 2002,
the
Financial Times
reported.
Banier, a “socialite photographer,” is a friend of Liliane Bettencourt, the daughter of L’Oréal’s founder and the company’s largest shareholder.
Bettencourt’s daughter, Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers, has sued Banier, alleging that he bilked her mother out of 1 billion euros in gifts. That trial was postponed on its opening day so the judge could investigate recordings made by a Bettencourt butler, which have had ramifications for French politicians, including President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The shareholder’s complaint against the company “is being examined by Paris prosecutors,” the
FT
article said.
It is the first time that the friendship between Mr. Banier and the 87-year-old Ms. Bettencourt …. has been linked to questions about the allocation of L’Oréal company funds.
(Source:
Financial Times,
July 21, 2010.)
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