AFP: L'Oreal billionaire fraud trial to begin
AFP: L'Oreal billionaire fraud trial to begin: "celebrity photographer goes on trial Thursday accused of cheating the ageing heiress of the L'Oreal cosmetics empire Liliane Bettencourt out of a billion euros.
The bitter battle over the family's fortune has been complicated by a separate tax evasion scandal that hit Bettencourt this month, implicating Labour Minister Eric Woerth and embarrassing Nicolas Sarkozy's government.
The trial was due to start at 9:30 am (0730 GMT) at a court in Nanterre, west of Paris, and run to July 6, but was likely to be immediately postponed after lawyers agreed to seek an adjournment to study evidence in the tax case.
Thursday's trial pits the photographer and socialite Francois-Marie Banier, against Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers, the daughter of 87-year-old Liliane, France's richest woman.
Banier, dubbed 'photographer to the stars' after shooting the likes of US actor Johnny Depp and Princess Caroline of Monaco, became close friends with Bettencourt after meeting her at a dinner party in 1969."
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