Several protagonists, former police officers, club personalities or lobbyists, are suspected of having provided mutual services in exchange for advantages from PSG or in favour of the club.
Former Macronist vice-president of the Assembly Hugues Renson was indicted on Thursday, September 5 in Paris for influence peddling, suspected of having worked towards political decisions favorable to PSG in exchange for tickets to prestigious matches or other rewards from the club, AFP learned from a source close to the case.
Hugues Renson, 46, a member of parliament for Paris from 2017 to 2022 and currently secretary general of EDF Hydro according to his personal bio, was questioned for several hours by a Parisian financial investigating judge who indicted him at the end of the day and placed him under judicial supervision, according to the source close to the case. According to this source, Hugues Renson denies having committed an illegal act. “Hugues Renson contests this. He did not commit any illegal act in the course of his duties.”his lawyer Mario Stasi told AFP.
In this multi-layered investigation opened in the summer of 2021, several protagonists, former police officers, club personalities or lobbyists, are suspected of having provided mutual services in exchange for benefits from PSG or in favor of the club. Since September 2022, an investigating judge has been dealing with this case opened in particular on the offenses of influence peddling and corruption, and has indicted several people including Jean-Martial Ribes, former director of communications for the club; Malik Nait-Liman, former supporter representative for the club and former police officer in the intelligence services; police officers and the Franco-Algerian lobbyist Tayeb Benabderrahmane.
“Visa facilitation”
The name of Hugues Renson, as well as that of a former advisor to the sports unit of the Élysée, Charlotte Casasoprana, appeared in this investigation during the“mobile phone data extraction” of Mr. Ribes, indicated the IGPN in a report dated November 2023 consulted by the AFP. The two were heard in a free hearing in May in the premises of the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN).
According to these telephone conversations, the PSG communications director requested interventions from the MP to obtain, among other things, “facilitation of visas or naturalizations”while Hugues Renson regularly requested and obtained tickets for PSG matches.
Hugues Renson’s name also appears in the investigation into suspicions of tax favors granted to the Parisian club during the transfer of Brazilian striker Neymar in 2017, which has been the subject of a separate procedure since the beginning of 2024. The justice system is wondering whether the former vice-president of the National Assembly tried to obtain tax advantages from the government for PSG during the transfer for 222 million euros (the most expensive in history) of the Brazilian superstar to the capital club.
