What we know about the search at the port of Lorient as part of a deal with Oman

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A search took place Tuesday November 26, 2024 at the headquarters of the mixed economy company (SEM) Keroman in Lorient (Morbihan), which manages the fishing port of Lorient, as part of an investigation for illegal taking of interests and misappropriation of public funds concerning a contract with the Sultanate of OmanAFP learned from consistent sources. It is the association Anticoragainst corruption and for ethics in politics, which alerted the authorities.

Preliminary investigation

“Searchs are underway in various locations, notably at the headquarters of the mixed economy company Lorient Keroman,” a judicial source told AFP, confirming information from the daily Le Télégramme.

“They intervene within the framework of a preliminary investigation opened by the PNF (national financial prosecutor's office, Editor's note) in April 2024 of the heads of pillegal earning of interest, embezzlement of public funds, concealment and laundering of these offenses”, added the same source.

Anticor Morbihan as whistleblower

This investigation, opened following a report from the Anticor Morbihan association, was entrusted to the Rennes judicial police in co-referral with the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption and Financial and Tax Offenses (OCLCIFF) .

SEM Keroman, chaired by Olivier Le Nézet, also president of the national fisheries committee, assured in a press release that the search had been carried out “carried out in complete transparency and as an open book”.

Why go to court?

Anticor had taken legal action regarding the procedure which allowed SEM Keroman to obtain a call for tenders, as part of a joint venture (SAS Ker'Oman), to design and manage the port of Duqm, in the Arabian Sea, south of the Sultanate of Oman.

The anti-corruption association aimed in particular at illegal taking of interests “by revolving door” targeting a former vice-president of Lorient Agglomération, having acquired a stake in the SAS shortly after leaving his elected position.

“SEM Ker'Oman had an 80% majority within the SAS during the entire procedure aimed at obtaining the market. Then, a few days after obtaining the market, it is diluted by a capital increase” without the new investors paying any capital gain, described Stéphane Bigata, co-referent of Anticor 56.

There is a transfer of ownership which surprised us.

The minister takes note of the search

“We also wonder what the 725,000 euros of repayable advances were used for” granted by Lorient Agglomération (majority shareholder of the SEM) and the Brittany region, added Mr. Bigata.

The Minister of Fisheries Fabrice Loher, also president of Lorient Agglomération and mayor of Lorient, indicated in a press release “take note of the search”.

“I hope that the collection of information will take place with the greatest transparency,” he added.

The principle of the presumption of innocence applies at this stage of the investigation. To be continued.

Source: AFP.

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