The French National Financial Prosecutor's Office has opened a preliminary investigation into the "abuse of influence" targeting the advisory activities in Russia of former President Nicolas Sarkozy, according to sources that confirmed information provided by the "Mediapart" website.

The French Press Agency said that the office had opened investigations with presidents about "abuse of influence" as well as "laundering a crime or misdemeanor."

However, he did not confirm the date of opening the investigation, which began with information to the Financial Intelligence Service, and a source familiar with the matter confirmed this information.

According to Mediapart, the Anti-Corruption Court has been investigating, since the summer of 2020, after a report issued by the Financial Intelligence Service "Trakvin", into the reasons for paying the Russian insurance company "Reso Garantia", run by two Russian billionaires, Sergey and Nikolai Sarkisov, a financial reward for Sarkozy. .

"The judiciary seeks to verify whether the former head of state acted only as an advisor, which would be completely legal, or whether he participated in potential criminal lobbying activities on behalf of the two Russian businessmen," the website wrote.

The contract concluded in 2019 covers several years and provides for an amount of 3 million euros, and Nicolas Sarkozy had received a payment of 500 thousand euros under this contract in early 2020 on his account at Rothschild Bank, according to the site.

In response to questions from the French Press Agency, those close to Sarkozy expressed their "complete satisfaction" and confirmed that the "advisory activities" of the former president "were carried out in the framework of respecting legal and ethical rules."