Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is facing criminal charges for allegedly taking advantage of an elderly heiress for campaign contributions.  Sarkozy denies it.  It's the latest twist in an epic tale of wealth, war, and nasty people.

The investigative judge says Mr. Sarkozy took an €150,000 in cash from Liliane Bettencourt, the heiress to the L’Oreal cosmetics fortune.

But Bettencourt’s accountant had earlier said that the cash was stuffed into an envelope and accepted by then-Budget Minister Eric Woerth and used in Sarkozy’s 2007 election campaign. Bettencourt received a €30 million tax rebate while Woerth was budget minister.

Sarkozy’s attorney said he would file an appeal against the investigative judge’s "incoherent and unfair decision".

If the allegations are proven true, it wouldn’t be the first time that the third wealthiest woman in the world was used as an ATM by unscrupulous men.  Liliane Bettencourt reportedly also lost €22 million to New York financier Bernie Madoff’s ponzi scheme.  And the investigation into her coerced donations to French politicians began when her daughter learned a gigolo was taking advantage of the elderly, addled heiress.  Investigators wanted to see where else the money was going.

Bettencourt was married to Andre Bettencourt, a former French fascist and nazi collaborator who switched to the resistance around the time the Allies landed in Normandy and later denounced his wartime anti-Semitism.