“Delicate financial situation”, “significant anomalies”: why was Arnaud Lagardère indicted ?

Arnaud Lagardère est soupçonné d’avoir “fait financer son train de vie et ses dépenses personnelles en puisant dans les fonds des sociétés Lagardère SAS et Lagardère MAXPPP – Vincent Isore

L’homme d’affaires est soupçonné d’avoir puisé dans les comptes de ses sociétés pour financer son train de vie et ses dépenses personnelles pendant plusieurs années.

CEO Arnaud Lagardère, suspected of having drawn on the accounts of his companies to finance his lifestyle and personal expenses for several years, was indicted after a day of ;rsquo;interrogation by financial investigating judges.

The 63-year-old businessman was indicted for "dissemination of false or misleading information, purchase of votes, abuse of corporate assets and abuse of power and non-filing of accounts", a judicial source told AFP.

"He was placed under judicial supervision with a ban on managing and the obligation to provide a bond of 200 000 euros& quot;, she added. Arnaud Lagardère arrived shortly after 9 a.m. at the Paris court. He came out around 7:30 p.m. with his lawyers Sébastien Schapira and Dimitri Grémont, noted the AFP.

He was questioned in a judicial investigation opened by the national financial prosecutor's office in April 2021 on the basis of a complaint from the Amber Capital fund, a report from the Authority of financial markets as well as a report from the High Council of the Audit Office, according to the same source. The acts were committed between April 2009 and December 2022.

Accounting irregularities

Arnaud Lagardère, who inherited the empire built by his father, Jean-Luc Lagardère, upon his death in 2003, is suspected of having &amp ;quot;finances his lifestyle and personal expenses by drawing on the funds of the companies Lagardère SAS and Lagardère", detailed the judicial source.

For several years, these companies "would have notably taken charge of expenses linked to the buildings he occupies as well as an inheritance debt and numerous current account advances", he said -she added.

In November 2019, the Letter revealed that Mr. Lagardère refused to publish the accounts of his personal holding company Lagardère Capital & Management, so as not to "make public one's personal financial situation, in particular one's level of debt".

"On several occasions", according to the Letter, the group's shares held by Mr. Lagardère reached a value lower than that of its debt, "creating a delicate financial situation vis-à-vis creditors".

According to a source close to the matter, the case is based on accounting irregularities which remained within the scope of Arnaud Lagardère's personal companies and which did not result in financial damage for the Lagardère group (media , publishing, distribution in train stations and airports).

"Significant anomalies"

The former deputy general manager Pierre Leroy, pillar of the group, was indicted on April 10 for “vote buying, complicity abuse of corporate assets and presentation of inaccurate annual accounts" in particular, indicated the judicial source, confirming partial information from Libération. Two auditors have was indicted in March for complicity in abuse of corporate assets.

L’un, also prosecuted for presentation of inaccurate accounts and non-disclosure of criminal facts, was struck off by the H3C in April 2023 for "to have certified, without reservation" the accounts from 2014 to 2018 despite "significant anomalies", according to the decision consulted by the AFP.

He contests his removal. "He considers that he has done his job in accordance with the rules. He did not commit any misconduct, either ethical or, a fortiori, criminal", his lawyer Frédérique Baulieu told AFP.