So many twists and turns this Friday for Vincent Bolloré.
A judge of the Paris judicial court deemed "necessary" a trial for the businessman for facts including corruption in Togo, but validated a fine of 12 million euros, paid by the parent company, which will allow the end of the proceedings against the multinational.
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Vincent Bolloré and two other senior officials in the group had accepted an appearance on prior admission of guilt (CRPC, plead guilty) and the payment of a fine of 375,000 euros.
But during the hearing, the judge considered that the sentences were "unsuitable in view of the seriousness of the charges, considering that it was" necessary that they be tried "by a criminal court.
The Paris judicial court finally validated this Friday the judicial agreement of public interest signed between the Bolloré SE group and its parent company with the Public Prosecutor of Paris.
This agreement followed the admission of guilt of the parties targeted by the investigations, said Friday the National Financial Prosecutor's Office in a press release.
pic.twitter.com/d4lo68q4UR
- Financial prosecutor's office (@pr_financier) February 26, 2021
This announcement follows revelations from L'Obs on Friday, indicating that the investigating judges were able to establish that Vincent Bolloré and his group paid 370,000 euros in communication expenses to Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé, all to obtain contracts and tax benefits on the port of Lomé.
Contracts and appointments
The contracts obtained stem from the port extension project, launched in 2009. L'Obs thus reveals that Vincent Bolloré himself wrote on August 10, 2009 to Gnassingbé to let him know his desire to see his group play "a driving role. on the port of Lomé ”.
It was a few months later that the 370,000 euros would have been paid to the outgoing president, then in the countryside, through the company Havas, a subsidiary of Bolloré SE.
The weekly also mentions the appointment in July 2011 of Patrick Bolouvi, half-brother of President Gnassingbé, to the general management of the Havas subsidiary in Togo.
In return, the group would have secured "the extension of several operating contracts at the port of Lomé and various tax advantages for its subsidiary Bolloré Africa Logistics, as well as the construction of a third wharf".
In its press release, the National Financial Prosecutor's Office further specifies that the Bolloré SE group undertakes to have the French Anti-Corruption Agency evaluated, and for two years, the effectiveness of its compliance program and to bear the cost up to up to € 4 million.
Created in 2016, the judicial convention of public interest is a recent procedure.
It allows a group prosecuted for corruption to recognize the facts and avoid a trial.
In its press release, the National Financial Prosecutor's Office specifies that this procedure has been used seven times since its creation.
