[DAILYMAIL.CO.UK] Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing to move to London to set up a billion pounds plus investment fund, it was claimed today. If the move goes ahead, the controversial Frenchman will become the latest to escape a potential top tax rate of 75 per cent in his home country.
| He's moving to Britain even though Brits are leaving because of high taxes. Rather tells you everything you need to know about Hollande's France... |
He and his former supermodel third wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy would be likely to settle in an affluent district like South Kensington -- so becoming the most high profile Gallic celebrity couple in the city.
But the former president is under investigation for corruption in France, and if he does cross the Channel there will be outrage.
| French ex-Presidents are always investigated for corruption. The investigators are usually right... |
Details of the planned move were uncovered during a raid by fraud police on Sarkozy's Paris mansion last June.
It came within weeks of Mr Sarkozy losing his immunity against prosecution after being defeated by Socialist rival Francois Hollande in the May presidential election.
Now the hugely respected investigative news site Mediapart reports that the 'first draft' of Mr Sarkozy's London project was found by detectives examining his computer files.
A judge has since made Sarkozy an assisted witness in the so-called Bettencourt Affair, in which he is accused of using illegal cash from France's richest woman to fund his 2007 election campaign. |