The Minister Delegate in charge of Small and Medium Enterprises, Alain Griset, against whom ten to twelve months suspended prison sentence were required in his trial for
"incomplete or false declaration of his financial situation"
, will be determined on his fate on Wednesday 8 December in the early afternoon. The judges of the 11th chamber of the Paris Criminal Court will render their decision at 1.30 pm Contacted by AFP, Alain Griset's lawyer, Me Patrick Maisonneuve indicated that he
"did not know"
whether his client was would present at the hearing for deliberation. The minister's agenda provides for a meeting in Paris early in the morning on
“local factories”
.
Read also Alain Griset, a former taxi driver who became a minister at the bedside of small businesses
The prosecution requested ten to twelve months suspended prison sentence against Alain Griset for failing to declare, in August 2020, after his appointment to the government, part of his assets and his interests to the High Authority for transparency of public life (HATVP).
The prosecutor also requested a fine of 30,000 euros and a three-year ineligibility sentence which, he stressed at the hearing, would
"automatically result in the ban from exercising public functions"
.
In government since July 2020, Alain Griset is the current Prime Minister to appear before a criminal court.
He is suspected of having intentionally concealed from the HATVP the holding of a stock savings plan (PEA) of 171,000 euros, as well as
"direct holdings"
in several companies such as Française des Jeux or Natixis.
Read alsoHow the Griset team adapted the solidarity fund
Also at issue, a sum of 130,000 euros placed in his PEA and which belonged to the National Confederation of Crafts, Trades and Services (Cnams) of the North, an inter-professional organization that Alain Griset had headed since 1991. Before the court, he maintained that he had received in August 2019
"mandate"
from the Cnams to
"make this sum grow over a short period in order to buy real estate"
. He was in passing congratulated on the capital gain of 19,000 euros achieved in eleven months.
“My mandate was to manage this money as president of Cnams. As he was no longer president, this mandate came to an end. This money did not belong to me. It never belonged to me before being minister and even less after ”
,he maintained.
"I was badly advised"
The HATVP had taken legal action in November 2020 after noting the omission of Alain Griset.
For the institution, the main aim
of
the omission of declaration was
"to prevent the revelation of facts liable to receive the criminal qualification of breach of trust"
.
The prosecutor recalled that Cnams, as a legal person, did not have the right to open a PEA reserved for natural persons.
Read also Alain Griset defends himself from any "dishonesty" before the criminal court
