The richest woman in France and the heiress of L’Oreal, Liliane Bettencourt, has recently traded a string of private islands in the superb archipelago of the Seychelles to an ocean conservation foundation. Located off the coast of the African continent, in the vast waters of the Indian Ocean, 250 kilometers southwest of Seychelles’ main island of Mahe, D’Arros is a place of beauty and serenity.
Now aged a respectable 89, Liliane Bettencourt has bought the Island of D’Arros and a few neighboring islets for $18 million, back in 1988, and recently sold them, following the declaration of the Housing and Habitat Minister Christian Lionnet, for a staggering $60 million to a business registered in the Seychelles named Chelomia Company Ltd., affiliated with the Save our Seas foundation based in Geneva.
Closely collaborating with the Ministry of Environment and Energy, the Save our Seas Foundation will help proclaim the island a nature reserve and will reportedly tend to its careful management. Unfortunately, the French Madame, Mrs. Bettencourt, was recently the target of a French tax probe, but the authorities declared they will not pursue criminal charges against her, during last year.
The probe has revealed in excess of €100 million in undeclared funds in around a dozen accounts in different banks from Switzerland and Singapore. The Seychelles property was undeclared as well.
[Luxuo]
