Tried for the bankruptcy of an insurance brokerage company in which she was a stakeholder, Magali Berdah, considered the “queen of influencers”, was acquitted this Monday, November 25, 2024, announced BFM Nice-Côte d’Azur and Agence France Presse.
On October 10, the prosecution requested 18 months in prison against him, six of which were spent under an electronic bracelet. The one who made herself known thanks to her agency Shauna Events (specializing in connecting brands and influencers) proclaimed her innocence during the hearing, where she was also accused of having laundered funds acquired from fraudulent manner.
A company with very vague management and accounting
The case judged in October concerns the brokerage company BA & CO, created in 2013 by a childhood friend of Magali Berdah. This company was taken over in March 2014 by the latter's mother, before being placed in liquidation in 2015, with liabilities estimated at nearly 2.5 million euros. If Magali Berdah presented herself as a simple employee in charge of sales within BA & CO, the prosecution considered that she was the de facto manager.
Between 2014 and 2015, the very vague accounting of BA & CO indicates more than €80,000 taken in cash without justification, while €600,000 passed through an account opened in the name of a secretary to pay salaries when the assets of the company risked being frozen at the request of the company's creditors. But this account also presented luxury expenses (hotels in Monaco, clothes, chocolates, etc.) totaling €27,000 which no one explained.
During the hearing, Magali Berdah however recognized a certain permeability between her finances and this secretary's account. In particular, she had received payments for her work and she also funded the account with funds that had been loaned to her in 2015. The influencer agent, however, denied being responsible for the company and, therefore, for its poor management. As reported byAgence France Presseshe presented herself as the commercial director of BA & CO, a simple employee herself put in difficulty by the setbacks of the company.
Magali Berdah's mother sentenced
In its decision rendered under advisement, the Nice criminal court, which noted the shortcomings of the investigation, concluded that it could not be proven that Magali Berdah was the de facto manager of the company.
On the other hand, as noted BFM Nice-Côte d’Azur, the mother of Magali Berdah, was indeed condemned for her poor management of the company. She received an 18-month suspended prison sentence.
