The Orpea title fell 13% on Wednesday afternoon on the Paris Stock Exchange, weighed down by revelations from Mediapart according to which the private group of retirement homes is threatened with a "
financial scandal
" because of a Luxembourg company which was investing in his residences and who allegedly carried out "
questionable operations
".
At 3:25 p.m., in a market down 0.81%, the stock plunged 13.05% to 29.26 euros.
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According to Mediapart and the collective of journalists Investigate Europe, the Luxembourg holding company Lipany, created in 2007, has "
accumulated 92 million in assets
", "
mainly shares in numerous nursing homes and clinics managed by Orpea
" in several European countries, including France, and "
carried out dubious financial operations
".
Lipany belongs, according to Mediapart, to Roberto Tribuno, an accountant and tax adviser who was the boss of Orpea in Italy.
This holding "
makes almost no profit and has never distributed dividends
", its activities are "
entirely financed by debt
", in a way "
to say the least opaque
", says the investigative media.
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Orpea wants to “shed light on the accusations”
In a brief press release sent to AFP, the management of Orpea indicated that it could not comment, "
justice being seized
": the company recalls that it recently filed a complaint against X for misuse of corporate assets, with the parquet floor of Nanterre, in the Hauts-de-Seine.
Anxious to "
shed light on the accusations against the group
" since the publication of the book-investigation
Les Fossoyeurs
by Victor Castanet, the management says it has "
detected potentially criminal facts, which call into question individual behavior
".
Orpea also stresses that it has taken "
first disciplinary measures, several people having already left the company
".
The group mentions by name the case of the former financial director Sébastien Mesnard, who according to Mediapart was in “
close cooperation
” with Lipany.
"
Sébastien Mesnard no longer works for the company and no longer has access to his email
," management said in its press release.
"
We are continuing our investigations and we will take all the measures and sanctions that prove necessary
", she added, recalling that "
these facts in no way concern the reception and care of residents
".
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Under fire from critics since the publication at the end of January of the "
Fossoyeurs
", Orpea is also the subject of an investigation opened in Nanterre, at the end of April, on suspicion of institutional mistreatment or financial offences.
Other investigations have been underway since February, for "
forgery and use of forgery and violation of labor legislation by abusively resorting to fixed-term contracts
".
Since the beginning of the scandal, on January 24, the price of Orpea has melted by around 64%.
