what is this case of abuse of corporate assets which targets the CEO

JUSTICE – Arnaud Lagardère is in the crosshairs of justice. The CEO is heard this Monday, April 29 by an investigating judge in Paris with a view to possible indictment. He arrived at the court shortly after 9:00 a.m. with his lawyer, Me Sébastien Schapira. The 63-year-old businessman is suspected of having drawn on his company accounts to finance his lifestyle and personal expenses for several years.

Arnaud Lagardère will be questioned as part of a judicial investigation opened by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) in April 2021 on the basis of a complaint from the British fund Amber Capital, a report from the Financial Markets Authority ( AMF) as well as a report from the High Council of Auditors (H3C, now the High Audit Authority, H2A), according to a judicial Source at AFP.

The offenses targeted are dissemination of false or misleading information, abuse of corporate assets, powers and trust, presentation of inaccurate accounts in particular, listed the same Source. The acts were committed between April 2009 and December 2022. At the end of his interrogation, the CEO will either be indicted or placed under the intermediate status of assisted witness.

Drawing funds from your companies to finance your lifestyle

Concretely, Arnaud Lagardère, who inherited the empire built by his father, Jean-Luc Lagardère, upon his death in 2003, is suspected of having “financing your lifestyle and personal expenses by drawing on the funds of the companies Lagardère SAS and Lagardère SCM”detailed the judicial Source.

For several years, these companies “would have notably taken charge of expenses linked to the buildings he occupies as well as an inheritance debt, and numerous current account advances”she added.

In November 2019, the Letter (formerly Letter A) revealed that Arnaud Lagardère refused to publish the accounts of his personal holding company, Lagardère Capital & Management (LCM), so as not to “make public your personal financial situation, in particular your level of debt”.

In debt for years

” Many times “according to the digital daily, the group’s shares held by Arnaud Lagardère have reached a value lower than that of its debt, “creating a delicate financial situation vis-à-vis creditors”.

According to a Source close to the matter, the case is based on accounting irregularities, which remained within the scope of the CEO’s personal companies, and which did not result in financial damage for the Lagardère group.

In the decade following the death of Jean-Luc Lagardère, his heir fell into debt, sold the EADS aerospace branch and sold several media outlets.

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