He is one of the most discreet bosses in France. Rare media appearances, refusal to publish the accounts of his company except the annual turnover… A course of action which Emmanuel Besnier, boss of Lactalis, did not deviate from during the case of contaminated milk which splashed his company at the end of December 2017. Again, even at the heart of the investigation, his tête-à-tête with the gendarmes had not leaked until then.
According to concordant sources, the 49-year-old CEO was placed in police custody at the end of the year by decision of the investigating judge in charge of the file. Two years ago, more than 50 children were poisoned with salmonella agona, a bacterium found in the infantile powder of the world milk giant and causing sometimes serious foodborne infections. After several product recalls, nine months of investigation and 300 complaints filed, a judicial investigation was opened against X notably for "deception on the substantial qualities of the goods" and "unintentional injuries" on October 9, 2018.
He has not been charged
At the end of his police custody carried out by investigators from the central office for combating attacks on public health (Oclaeps), the boss of the world number 1 in milk, the seventh fortune in France, was not put under examination by the magistrate. A person close to the investigation specifies: “Several other people from Lactalis were heard. In this kind of file, it always works like that. First searches and seizure of documents, then the custody of officials, usually from the smallest to the most important. "
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“In a way, things have moved forward. His police custody remains a major element, "reacts the president of the Association for Children's Health, Quentin Guillemain. "Even if, for the moment, there is no indictment, we hope that it will intervene in the coming months and that a trial will be held quickly," said the defender of the victims of Lactalis.
Joined, the spokesperson of Lactalis did not wish to comment “on this legal file”.