Role of France Télécom Chief in Tapie Affair to Be Investigated
By DAVID JOLLY
Prosecutors said Stéphane Richard would be formally investigated for his
role in a case that has already swept up the head of the International
Monetary Fund.
By DAVID JOLLY
Published: June 12, 2013
PARIS — French prosecutors said Wednesday that Stéphane Richard, the
chief executive of France Télécom, would be formally investigated for
his role in a politically charged case that has already shined an
uncomfortable spotlight on his former boss, Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund.
Mr. Richard, who denied wrongdoing, had been in police custody since
Monday for questioning. He is being investigated on suspicion of
organized fraud, according to a statement by the Paris prosecutor’s
office. In the French system, a formal investigation suggests that
prosecutors believe there is cause to believe a person was involved in a
crime, but the presumption of innocence remains and there is no
certainty the person will face trial.
Prosecutors had been questioning Mr. Richard in the hospital, after he
began feeling exhausted Monday following a long interrogation.
Jean-Etienne Giamarchi, a lawyer for Mr. Richard, did not immediately
reply to requests for comment.
Investigators are examining a 2008 arbitration case in which Bernard
Tapie, a colorful businessman and former owner of the Olympique de
Marseille soccer club, was awarded €403 million, or $535 million, to
settle a long-running dispute with Crédit Lyonnais, a state-owned bank.
Mr. Tapie had been a career Socialist, even serving as a minister under
the administration of François Mitterrand, but he switched his
allegiance in 2007 to the center-right Union for a Popular Movement led
by then-President Nicolas Sarkozy. Acting on a complaint from Socialist
deputies, prosecutors began an investigation to learn if Mr. Tapie might
have received special treatment in the case, which Mr. Tapie denied.
They are also trying to understand why government officials did not
challenge the outcome despite indications of possible anomalies in the
procedure.
At the time of the arbitration, Mr. Richard was chief of staff to Ms.
Lagarde, who was Mr. Sarkozy’s finance minister from 2007 to 2011.
French media have reported that investigators are homing in on apparent
contradictions in Mr. Richard’s explanation of how the procedure was
decided.
Paris prosecutors said Jean-François Rocchi, who had been charged with
liquidating the assets of Crédit Lyonnais, was appearing before the
magistrates on Wednesday afternoon. Mr. Rocchi had also been taken into
custody Monday for two days of questioning. The outcome of the hearing
was not immediately known. Mr. Rocchi has also denied any wrongdoing in
the matter.
Ms. Lagarde has herself come under suspicion
for having allowed the arbitration to go forward. She denies
wrongdoing, saying she acted in the best interest of French taxpayers to
put an end to the dispute. The I.M.F. board has expressed its support
for her.
On May 24, prosecutors in a related enquiry made Ms. Lagarde an
“assisted witness,” a less-serious status than that implied by a formal
investigation.
Since then, prosecutors have also put Pierre Estoup, a member of the
arbitration panel, under formal investigation. The officials acted after
learning that Mr. Estoup had failed to disclose previous relationships
with Mr. Tapie and his lawyer at the time of the procedure. Mr. Estoup
has denied wrongdoing.
Mr. Richard has been chief executive of France Télécom since 2010, and
was given the additional title of chairman in 2011. The French newspaper
Le Monde quoted a spokesman for Mr. Richard as saying Wednesday that he
was feeling “confident and combative,” and had left the hospital.
The possibility that Mr. Richard could face criminal charges creates a
tricky situation for the company, in which the state holds 27 percent of
the shares. The former state telephone monopoly, which is changing its
name to Orange, ranks among the biggest telecommunications providers in
Europe, employing more than 170,000 people worldwide.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the company’s
board, to which the state appoints three of the 15 directors, would meet
in the coming days to discuss the situation.
“Through its board members the state will assert its position as a
shareholder,” the spokesman said, according to Reuters.
Le Monde this month quoted Arnaud Montebourg, the French industry
minister, as saying that Mr. Richard should quit in the event that he
was placed under formal investigation. Mr. Montebourg later denied
having said that.
France Télécom said in a statement that it “acknowledges the decision to
place Stéphane Richard under formal investigation, but wishes to make
it clear that this has no consequences on his current responsibilities.
Stéphane Richard will return to work tomorrow morning.”
Tom Wright, a spokesman for France Télécom, declined to comment further.
Investors appeared to show little concern about the matter, and France Télécom shares closed almost unchanged.
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