L'Oreal Family Feud

Filed Under: Legal Matters

Hmm, this is curious.

Liliane Bettencourt, the 87-year-old French heiress to the L'Oreal fortune, is the 21st richest person in the world, with a fortune Forbes estimates is worth about $13.4 billion dollars.

Up till now she's led a happy life, often accompanied by her dear friend Francois-Marie Banier, a 62-year-old photographer and socialite. The two have been friends since the mid-80s, but apparently in 2002, Bettencourt started giving Banier a multitude of gifts, including cash, artwork and life insurance, totaling up to about 1 billion euros.

One billion euros??! That's $1.5 BILLION dollars!!!

And life insurance?? Kind of an odd gift to just give someone!

Apparently the gifts raised the eyebrow of Bettencourt's daughter, Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers, as well, and now she's taken her mother and Banier to court in two separate cases.

Bettencourt-Meyers claims her mother was not in her right mind when she showered Banier with so many gifts, and filed a civil procedure against her mother in an attempt to have the old woman declared irresponsible and placed under authority of a court-appointed tutor.

Separately, Bettencourt-Meyer has pressed charges against Banier for taking advantage of an old woman and extorting money from her.

Bettencourt and Banier have both refused to comment on the case for months, but in an interview last year, Bettencourt said, "Life would be no fun if you only saw people from the same background as your own. My daughter has to realize that I am a free woman."

She also pointed out that the total sum of money spent on gifts to Banier is not much when compared with the rest of her fortune. Uh, we guess. Sort of. Yeah, but not really - $1.5 billion is a ton of money no matter how you slice it.

If Banier is convicted he could do up to three years in prison with a fine of up to 375,000 euros.

This is a tough one. Do you think Bettencourt's daughter wants the money for herself? Do you think the elderly woman doesn't possess the faculties to determine if she's being taken advantage of?

Tell us your thoughts!

[Image via AP Images.]

Posted: December 4, 2009 at 12:14 pm