Former French Interior Minister Claude Gueant was yesterday placed under formal criminal investigation . Former French Interior Minister Claude Gueant was yesterday placed under formal criminal investigation over cash he allegedly received from Colonel Gaddafi . It is all part of a wider corruption enquiry into claims that Gueant 's former boss , Nicolas Sarkozy , received millions from the late Libyan dictator . Gueant , 70 , was Sarkozy 's chief of staff during the 2007 election campaign which saw Sarkozy become French president . The central allegation is that Muammar Gaddafi directly funded the campaign , in return for Sarkozy 's support . Both Sarkozy and Gueant deny the claims , but Paris judicial sources confirmed Gueant 'was being interviewed about the allegations from 6.45am today ' . He faces a long criminal investigation which could end up in a court trial and prison sentence . Investigators were particularly interested in how Gueant could have sold two paintings by an obscure Flemish Baroque master for the record price of Euro 500,000 ( £423,000 ) . Gueant insists that the cash payment was a good price for Andries van Eertvelt 17th Century paintings of boats in a storm . Gueant said : ' I made the deal under personal circumstances , but I 'm not an art investor ' saying he sold them in 2008 to an unidentified Malaysian lawyer . But art experts say the paintings were not worth anything like that amount , and there are suspicions that the cash in fact came from Gaddafi . Sarkozy , who only completed one term as president before losing the 2012 election to Francois Hollande , has been dogged by corruption allegations related to Gaddafi . A document made public in Paris in 2012 is said to show that the pair sealed an illegal financial deal that propelled Sarkozy to power in 2007 . Written in Arabic and signed by Mussa Kussa , Gaddafi 's intelligence chief , in 2006 , it refers to an 'agreement in principle to support the campaign for the candidate for the presidential elections , Nicolas Sarkozy , for a sum equivalent to Euro 50million ' . Claude Gueant and Nicolas Sarkozy are accused of accepting cash from Colonel Gaddafi ( above ) to fund their 2007 election campaign . France 's current Interior Minister , Bernard Cazeneuve , said at the time : 'Faced with such serious allegations , backed up by documents sourced from the Libyan dictator 's own entourage , Nicolas Sarkozy must explain himself to the French people . 'Several times in recent weeks , specific information has been published by the press relating to France 's relationship with Colonel Muammar Gaddafi 's regime . ' A governmental briefing note among papers sent to the investigative news site Mediapart points to numerous visits to Libya by Sarkozy and his colleagues which were aimed at securing funding . One , said to have taken place on October 6 , 2005 , led to 'campaign finance to NS ' being 'all paid ' - assumed to be a reference to Sarkozy . At the time , Sarkozy was an ambitious interior minister who was raising money for his presidential election campaign , even though taking cash from a notorious tyrant would have broken political financing laws . Sarkozy , who only completed one term as president before losing the 2012 election to Francois Hollande , has been dogged by corruption allegations related to Gaddafi . As France 's head of state , Sarkozy could not be prosecuted while in office , but within days of him losing the election , the Paris home he shares with his third wife , the former supermodel Carla Bruni , was raided by anti-corruption police . Sarkozy turned on his friend Gaddafi at the beginning of the Arab Spring in 2011 . French jets were the first to attack Gaddafi 's tanks in a military campaign which ended with the Libyan leader being murdered . Sarkozy is now back as president of the opposition UMP party in France , and insists he is innocent of any wrong doing and can stand again for the presidency in 2017 .
Claude Gueant , yesterday , placed under formal criminal investigation 70 . Gueant was Sarkozy 's chief of staff during the 2007 election campaign . Allegation is Gaddafi directly funded campaign to get Sarkozy 's support . Both Sarkozy and Gueant deny the corruption claims .