Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is officially under investigation on charges of witness tampering and fraud as part of a wider investigation into whether he received illegal funding from Libya for his 2007 election campaign, Reuters and AFP reported, citing News.ro.

Sarkozy, who is to be tried in 2025 for allegedly receiving illegal Libyan funds, denies the facts.

The new charges add to his long list of run-ins with the law. Sarkozy is now accused of tampering with a witness and conspiracy to defraud. If he is charged, he will stand trial for the third time.

After 30 hours of hearings held over four days, the investigating judge decided there were grounds to suspect Sarkozy of benefiting from influencing witnesses and conspiring to pervert justice, a judicial source told AFP.

The investigation was launched in May 2021 after French-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine gave an interview to the media denying an earlier claim that he had transferred Libyan funds to aid Sarkozy.

The former conservative president, who served from 2007 to 2012, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted in the new case.

However, other court cases have been opened in his name.

Despite the legal problems, Sarkozy remains an important figure in French politics, although he no longer holds any elected office.

The case is related to allegations that he took money from Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to finance his election campaign.

A key witness in the case, Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine, claimed that in 2006 and 2007 he brought back three suitcases full of money from Libya, totaling five million euros. But in 2020, Takieddin suddenly retracted his incriminating statement. , raising suspicions that Sarkozy would pressure him.

At least nine other people are suspected of involvement in the alleged conspiracy, which investigators say included payments to Takieddine.

There are also suspicions that some of the suspects tried to bribe a Lebanese judge to secure the release of Gaddafi’s son, who is being held in Lebanon, hoping to force the Libyan leader to help Sarkozy convince French justice of his innocence.

In a transcript of Sarkozy’s statements during the interrogation, seen by AFP, the former president said there was no physical evidence or any wiretapping to accuse him of “this madness”.

At the age of 68, Sarkozy has already been convicted twice of corruption and abuse of influence in separate cases related to trying to influence a judge and financing an election campaign. He appealed both decisions.

His lawyers told AFP on Friday that their client would “defend his honor” in this latest case in which he is a suspect.

After 30 hours of hearings over nearly four days, investigating judges decided they had grounds to charge Sarkozy with profiting from witness tampering and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, a court source told AFP.