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France's Sarkozy in Court Over 2012 Campaign Finance Scandal


Nicolas Sarkozy, head of France's Les Republicains political party and former French President, speaks on the second day of his party's national council in Paris, France, Feb. 14, 2016.
Nicolas Sarkozy, head of France's Les Republicains political party and former French President, speaks on the second day of his party's national council in Paris, France, Feb. 14, 2016.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is being questioned in connection with a financial scandal involving his unsuccessful re-election bid in 2012.

Sarkozy appeared in a Paris courtroom Tuesday to face judges investigating allegations that a public relations firm, Bygmalion, engaged in a process of false accounting that allowed Sarkozy's campaign to conceal unauthorized spending that put it well over the legal limit of $25 million in place at the time.

Several people have already been charged in the case. The conservative Sarkozy remains the leader of the party, now called The Republicans, and is positioning himself to run for the presidency next year.

Sarkozy has denied any knowledge of the accounting scheme.

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