Francois-Marie Banier: The French Connection Part 2 | 156

Scamfluencers

Wondery

Society & Culture

4.1 • 7K Ratings

🗓️ 28 April 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Francois-Marie Banier is facing an uphill battle in French courts when he learns he’s being sued by Liliane Bettencourt’s only daughter, Francoise. When the French media learn of the accusations of financial abuse against the L’Oreal heiress, he becomes the butt of a joke, twisting the L’Oreal slogan, “Because he’s worth it.” But thanks to a nosy butler and 20 hours of secret recordings, a new scandal overtakes Francois-Marie’s melodrama: Mediapart, a scrappy, new newspaper, gets a hold of the recordings and accusations fly, this time sweeping up Nicholas Sarkozy and a web of alleged illegal campaign donations, tax shelters, and new villains in the massive tangle that is the Bettencourt Affair.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, scam influencers listeners. If you're as hooked on these jaw-dropping schemes as we are, you'll love Wondry Plus. Think of it as you're all access past the world of scams. Add free episodes, early access, and exclusive deep dives that uncover even more shocking details. Don't just listen. Immerse yourself in the chaos with Wondry Plus.
0:34.6	Sachi, what would you do if a personal drama got so out of hand, it ended up involving the prime minister?
0:39.5	I have endeavored for my personal dramas to end up on the prime minister's desk.
0:41.4	I think I've gotten pretty close.
0:47.4	Yeah, that's why, honestly, I'd be impressed, and I wouldn't be totally surprised at all.
0:50.4	I think he knows who I am, and I think he doesn't want to admit it.
0:51.7	And I understand the impulse.
1:00.0	Yeah, if you guys saw each other on the street, he would, like like avert his eyes. I mean, so would I. So would I. Well, last week we talked about how novelist and photographer Francois Marie Bénier, Marie Bénieu, became best friends with billionaire
1:04.7	L'Oreal heiress, Lillian Bentancourt. Only Lillian's daughter was not so happy about it.
1:12.2	She feels like her inheritance might be at risk. And this week, we're going to hear about how this family feud spills
1:17.4	into the public sphere in the most French way possible.
1:25.6	It's late December 2007 in the suburbs of Paris.
1:30.3	Olivier Metzner is smoking a cigar in the backseat of a jaguar.
1:34.3	Olivier is in his late 50s and is one of France's most feared criminal attorneys.
1:40.3	He's got silver hair, glasses, and a face deeply lined from frowning at his legal opponents.
1:46.9	Today, his driver is taking him to the office of a state prosecutor.
1:51.6	We've actually met Olivier before Sachi.
1:55.1	He was the lawyer and lover of Alexandre Despailliers from our Death Becomes him episode,
2:01.6	but now, Olivier's working on one of the trickiest and most sensitive cases of his career.
2:07.6	That's actually why he's here today.
2:10.6	The situation is so delicate that he wants to hand deliver the documents to the prosecutor himself.
2:16.6	Olivier sits across from the prosecutor himself.
	...

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