The communicator is being referred to the criminal court for having tried to extort money from the television presenter Karine Le Marchand, according to information from “Mediapart”.
Already indicted in the “Save Sarko” case, “Mimi” Marchand will soon have to go to court in another case. According to information from Mediapartthe “popess of the celebrity press” is being sent to trial before the Paris criminal court for “extortion” and “concealment of breach of professional secrecy”. It was the investigating judge in charge of the case who ordered it on August 7, according to AFP. The 77-year-old communicator, close to the Macron and Sarkozy couple, is suspected of having wanted to extort money from the TV presenter Karine Le Marchand.
Michèle Marchand, who disputes the facts, is accused of having put pressure on the host of Love is in the meadow, civil party in this case. According to the elements of the investigation reported by Mediapart, In February 2020, a police officer informed a photographer close to Mimi Marchand that Karine Le Marchand’s daughter was in police custody for cannabis use. Sébastien Valiela, the paparazzi in question, then took a photo of the young girl and brought his images to Michèle Marchand. Claiming to have recovered these images by chance, the latter then took the opportunity to demand money from Karine Le Marchand, in exchange for their non-publication. In confidence, the latter allegedly paid 1,600 euros to Michèle Marchand. But according to Mediapart, At the same time, she filed a complaint with the IGPN to identify the police officer who caused the leak and the investigation showed her the manipulations of the person she believed to be her friend.
According to the elements of the prosecution’s requisitions, which had requested a trial last April, Mimi Marchand allegedly made herself “pressing and even threatening by insinuation, indicating to him in particular, while Karine Le Marchand did not make herself available and had not paid him the full amount mentioned […] : “It will be too late… it’s annoying for the little one.”
In this case, the photographer Sébastien Valiela is also being sent for trial, as are two police officers who have also been implicated.