PARIS, July 2 (RAPSI) - The investigators have officially charged former president of France Nicolas Sarkozy with corruption and abuse of office, AFP reports on Wednesday.

The decision was made after an official questioning that lasted 15 hours. Sarkozy was charged with bribery, abuse of office and concealing the breach of a commercial secret.

This is the first time in the history of the Fifth Republic when an arrest warrant for a former president was issued.

In 2013 Sarkozy was charged with exploiting L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt for campaign funds. The investigators believe that the former president may have taken advantage of Bettencourt's ill health to convince her to donate up to 4 million ($5 million) in cash to his UMP party. The charges were later dropped.