Liliane Bettencourt, the 89-year-old heiress to the L’Oreal fortune, has sold her Seychelles island to become a nature preserve.
The island sold for $60 million to the Save Our Seas Foundation.
Bettencourt is France’s richest woman. She purchased the island in 1997, but it took 13 years for anyone to know she owned the land.
The Seychelles government announced that it would seek $8 million from Bettencourt because she allegedly did not involve the government in her purchase of island. French authorities are also seeking more than $130 million from the heiress in back taxes. They say they were not aware of the island holding either.
Despite the ongoing controversy, Seychelles officials are happy with the sale of the island. The land will be used by the Save Our Seas Foundation promoting environmental conservation.
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Source: reuters
