Kiabi announces having suffered a large-scale “sophisticated financial fraud”, with an embezzlement estimated at 100 million euros, without however compromising its financial solidity.
The clothing brand Kiabi confirmed on Friday that it had been the victim of a “sophisticated, large-scale financial fraud”, which, according to it, “in no way calls into question” its “solidity”, after press reports suggesting embezzlement of fund of 100 million euros.
A spectacular amount: according to Franceinfo, 100 million euros “vanished” from the accounts of Kiabi, a brand from the north of France created in 1978, which is part of the Mulliez galaxy.
“Organized gang fraud and money laundering”
Franceinfo explained Friday morning that a former treasurer of the low-cost clothing brand had been arrested in August by the judicial police, when she left a private jet at Figari airport, in Corsica. South.
This 39-year-old woman, who moved to Florida to work in the luxury sector, was indicted for “organized gang fraud and money laundering”, indicates the media.
“The treasurer was indicted by the investigating judge and placed in pre-trial detention on August 18, 2024,” the Paris prosecutor’s office told AFP on Friday.
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The technique of “bounce accounts”
According to Franceinfo, Kiabi sought to recover an investment made a year earlier in mid-July, but when the company approached the bank, the money had “volatilized”, using a technique known as “rebound accounts”. “.
The brand’s management told AFP on Friday that it had discovered in July that it had been the victim of a “large-scale, sophisticated financial fraud”, without confirming or denying the amount of the embezzlement.
“We immediately launched all necessary actions, including legal ones, in order to obtain recovery of the amount of the fraud. We have every confidence in the outcome of the actions carried out by the judicial and police authorities involved.”
The management (empty)
The same source assured that “this fraud in no way called into question the financial solidity of Kiabi and had no impact on the maintenance of (the) annual trajectory” of the company.
600 points of sale in 28 countries
As for employee representatives, “we were informed of the fraud yesterday (Thursday), but we learned the details in the press this (Friday) morning,” Muriel Voldrich, CGT central delegate and CSE elected official, told AFP. . It is planned to question management on the subject.
This well-known store chain, which relies on a network of more than 600 points of sale in 28 countries, achieved 2.2 billion euros in turnover in 2023.
Around 10,000 people work there worldwide, including around 6,000 in France.
22.3 million customers in 2023
Kiabi, which boasts 293 million items sold to 22.3 million customers in 2023, is part of the Mulliez family galaxy, which brings together nearly 50 brands through various participations (Auchan, Decathlon, Leroy Merlin, Saint Maclou , Jules, Pizza Paï, Electro Depot…).
It is one of the rare brands to do well in a sector, ready-to-wear, shaken up by a violent crisis.
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It was fatal for certain brands, which were liquidated, such as Camaïeu in September 2022, with the dismissal of 2,100 employees which had had a strong impact, or more recently San Marina, Burton of London and Esprit.
Many other brands have undergone receiverships, takeovers and safeguard procedures, such as Pimkie, Kookaï and Naf Naf.
These brands have suffered from an explosive cocktail: pandemic, inflation, rising prices of energy and raw materials, rents and wages, or even competition from second-hand goods and “fast fashion” brands.
With AFP
