The French labor minister has been caught up in the scandal involving Liliane Bettencourt, the 87-year-old heiress to the L'Oreal fortune. Eric Woerth's wife Florence has been involved in helping Bettencourt manage her fortune. Woerth said Monday his wife intends to resign her position and on Tuesday that she will file a complaint against Eva Joly, a member of the European Parliament and of the Green Party, Radio France Internationale reported.
Tapes allegedly made by Bettencourt's butler have surfaced in which she appears to be discussing
plans for tax evasion with her financial adviser. Bettencourt, who became the largest stockholder in
the L'Oreal company when her father died in 1957, is the richest woman in France with a fortune
estimated at almost $20 billion.
Joly and others have demanded Woerth's resignation, saying his wife's employment by Bettencourt gives him a conflict of interest.
"We've got the feeling that millionaires today live very well, and cheat the taxman," said Arnaud
Montebourg, a Socialist member of the French Parliament. "State prosecutors protect them, wives of ministers help them and they have the support of the people in power, all is well."