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LVMH has to pay € 10m to dispel allegations that a former French lawmaker spied on the company, including a critic who made a film about billionaire Bernard Arnault.
The settlement, which was approved on Friday by a Parisian judge, ended a series of investigations into the work of Bernard Squarcini, who chaired the French intelligence agency from 2008 to 2012.
Although LVMH did not admit wrongdoing, this scandal tarnishes the reputation of Arnault, who made LVMH the largest group in the world and now enjoys it. power in France.
The investigation related to Squarcini’s criminal activities while working at LVMH.
According to court documents, he was hired in 2013 by LVMH’s second-in-command to discuss anti-fraud, corporate espionage and fraud, as well as problem-solving and prevention.
But prosecutors said Squarcini had set up its own network of police, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies to assist LVMH and the Arnault family in matters pertaining to trafficking, secrecy and other offenses.
Squarcini allegedly spied in 2015 on François Ruffin, a former filmmaker but now an elected member of parliament, and joined his Fakir rights movement to take the film. Thank you, sir! This explains Arnault’s rise to become the richest man in France.
Separately in 2013, Squarcini allegedly sought out the secrets of the criminal investigation. Image of LVMH At the Hermès mini-race, including the name of the investigating judge and the evidence the police have.
In the so-called fund wars, Hermès wrote a complaint for financial accountants on the methods used by LVMH in 2010 to purchase a 20 per cent share which allowed this to avoid disclosure. LVMH later paid € 8m fine.
Squarcini and others involved are still being investigated separately for the various cases suspected at the time and could be prosecuted if they are given. He has denied the allegations in 16 separate cases and maintains his innocence.
This settlement means that LVMH is no longer legally at risk and will not be prosecuted in any way related to Squarcini.
Ruffin, who was in court Friday, said the upper class should not come down lightly. “LVMH has already bought and paid for the intelligence of our country and is now doing the same with the administration of justice,” he said in a statement.
He then testified before the judge: “Can justice be bought for such a low price? If the government is paid then it must be a huge sum of money to support our hospitals or schools. This fee is approximately 0.02 percent of the annual LVMH income. ”
At the meeting, the LVMH chief acknowledged that “internal disruption” had taken place but said the group should be allowed to settle down and avoid prosecution because it co-operated with prosecutors and increased compliance with them and the legal departments.
White house terrorists are still relatively uncommon in France and have been criticized by some law enforcement agencies as harsh and unhelpful. Known as “conspiracy theories”, they were formed in 2016 under the anti-corruption law Sapin II (after then-finance minister Michel Sapin) with the aim of curbing fraud, embezzlement or fundraising by encouraging companies to take action. agree.
Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online.
Major developments to date include a € 2bn fine Airbus on corruption charges and a fine of € 500m Google on tax evasion.
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