This December 19, the mixed commercial court of Fort-de-France accepted the referral request made by the lawyer of the four plaintiffs who last November summoned the Bernard Hayot Group (GBH), to the legal obligation constituted by filing of its annual accounts.
Maître Renaud Portejoie, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, gave the reasons for this desire for dismissal. A request motivated, to listen to it, by certain particularly short deadlines.
We requested a referral because yesterday we received conclusions at the end of which we were told that GBH had submitted its accounts. What we were demanding legally is that GBH, like any company, submit its accounts annually, which has not been the case for six years. And we are told, at the last minute, that what is necessary has been done. We want to take the time to check the accounts that have been submitted, to ensure that they are consolidated accounts, that is to say for the entire GBH group and not just for the Holding company. There is a legal obligation, for a holding company with an annual turnover of more than 48 million euros, to submit all of the group’s accounts. If required by law, we will request that all accounts be filed.
Me Renaud Portejoie, questioned by Cécile Marre
Mathilde Désir is one of the complainants and “whistleblower” in this case. It explains the genesis of a legal action hitherto unprecedented in Martinique.
Like everyone else, we suffer from the high cost of living. We paid attention to the round tables and we identified, in our opinion, a missing piece of the puzzle: the secret of the margins. We have read the report of the commission of inquiry by Johnny Hajjar, which speaks of a real opacity of the accounts of mass distribution. We decided to check it and realized that the accounts had not been published by the majority of major distribution players for years. So we decided, since no one was doing it, to act.
Mathilde Désir, at the microphone of Cécile Marre
Maître Philippe Dubois, lawyer for the GBH group, makes him understand the position of the economic operator in this matter. A defender who, on the contrary, ensures that the desire for transparency has never failed his client.
The GBH company has always been transparent with all the authorities to which it reports: the tax authorities, the competition authorities, the parliamentary commissions of inquiry. And it decided, at the beginning of the week, to respond in full to the request made by the applicants, that is to say to submit the accounts for the last five years. The plaintiffs requested a referral to verify the reality of this deposit, which was made under the supervision of a bailiff so that there was no doubt in this regard. These are exactly the accounts as requested by the plaintiffs in their summons. That is to say the accounts of the company GBH over the last five years. Only the holding company was affected by the request.
Me Philippe Dubois, answering questions from Cécile Marre
New plaintiff in this case, the famous and controversial comedian Dieudonné MBala MBala. His lawyer, Me Georges-Emmanuel Germany, explains the reasons for this positioning.
Every citizen has the same rights, this is the principle of equality. And facing Mr. Hayot, Dieudonné demands the publication of the accounts. Dieudonné is a French citizen and he can require any French company to publish its accounts. We remember his attachment to overseas, he regularly comes to Martinique, he even ran for elections in Guadeloupe, so Dieudonné is very attached to this land. (…) He wants the law to be respected, for the accounts to be published. And it is a first victory that he has obtained, since proof of the publication of the social accounts has just been communicated to us. All that remains now is the publication of the consolidated accounts. GBH is a holding company and we must have the truth about the accounts. The whole truth. We are halfway there.
Me Georges-Emmanuel Germany, to Cécile Marre
The next hearing is scheduled to take place on January 25.
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