Head of faulty breast implant company jailed Jean-Claude Mas, founder of PIP and the man behind the manufacture of faulty breast implants, has been jailed by a court in France >> Page 9
Dordogne January 2014 - Issue #7
Four believed dead in Dordogne river crash Just hours after buying a €30 million property, a Chinese businessman is believed to have died in a helicopter accident along with his son, the former château owner and a fourth person. Rescuers are still searching for the bodies. “scared of helicopters”, according to eyewitnesses. When the flight did not return after 20 minutes, concerned staff contacted the emergency services who launched a search using emergency helicopters, police dogs and around 100 officers on foot. Witnesses said that shortly after the crash, they saw two people struggling in the fastmoving icy water, which was in full winter flow. Local man Michel Galardini, 58, told Sud Ouest newspaper: “We are used to seeing him flying around his vineyard and over the river. The helicopter was flying very low, only 10 or 15 metres over the water. I thought that was a bit strange.” A few minutes later, he told the newspaper that he heard a “deafening crash”. “There was a huge amount of foam and I could see two people struggling in the water.”
NEWS - Look who’s coming to dinner
As wolves slowly repopulate France, how long will it be before they are roaming the Dordogne? >> Page 4
NEWS - Prostitution given red light
Under new laws passed by the government, it is now illegal to pay for sex in France, although soliciting will no longer be punished >> Page 6
Feature - Château de Montaigne
We take an in-depth look at the former Dordogne home of Michel de Montaigne, the iconic 16th century essayist >> Page 11
© guillaumepaumier.com, CC-BY
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billionaire Chinese businessman has been killed after a helicopter, being flown by the man who had just sold him his château for an estimated €30 million, crashed into the river Dordogne. Also on board the flight were the businessman’s 12-year-old son and another man, believed to be an aide and interpreter. Lam Kok, 46, a hotel magnate who had diversified into the upmarket wine trade, accepted an offer of an ariel view of his new purchase from James Grégoire, who was until the previous day the owner of the Château de La Rivière near the town of Lugon-et-l’ile-du-Carnay, not far from Libourne. Mr Lam’s wife, Liu Xiangyun, who had posed for photographs with the two men earlier in the day, pulled out of the flight at the last minute, saying she was
INSIDE > > >
>> continued on page 5
France’s next president? Former leader Nicolas Sarkozy is on the comeback trail >> Page 7
Develop a habit that saves you money!
WHAT’S ON - Events in January
3 pages of events and write-ups from across the region. >> Pages 17-19
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