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Express Tribune
08-03-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Ex-French intelligence chief found guilty of illegal surveillance for LVMH
Listen to article Bernard Squarcini, the former head of France's domestic intelligence services, was convicted on March 7, 2025, for using public resources to assist LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) in a series of illegal activities, including surveillance on a French journalist. Bernard Squarcini, who served as France's intelligence chief from 2008 to 2012, was hired by LVMH as a security consultant after leaving his government post. The court sentenced him to four years in prison—two years under house arrest with an electronic bracelet and two years suspended. He was also fined 200,000 euros ($217,300). His lawyer indicated that he plans to appeal the verdict. The case centered around a scandal in which Squarcini and other individuals helped LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods company, protect its reputation through illegal means. One of the most egregious acts involved a covert surveillance operation targeting French journalist François Ruffin and his left-wing publication Fakir. François Ruffin had been working on a documentary called Merci Patron (Thanks Boss), which criticised LVMH's Billionaire CEO, Bernard Arnault, and the company's business practices. In response, LVMH sought to monitor Ruffin and his team to prevent their planned disruptions at an LVMH shareholder meeting in 2013. In addition to Louis Vuitton and Moët Hennessy, LVMH's portfolio includes Christian Dior Couture, Givenchy, Fendi, Celine, Kenzo, Tiffany, Bulgari, Loewe, TAG Heuer, Marc Jacobs, Stella McCartney, Sephora and Loro Piana. Squarcini was found complicit in organising this surveillance, which included misappropriating state resources to track Ruffin and his colleagues. The court ruled that Squarcini had abused his position to provide illegal services to LVMH, aiming to shield the company from negative publicity. However, LVMH itself was not among the defendants in this trial, though it had previously settled with a French court in 2021 by paying a €10 million fine to avoid criminal prosecution in connection with the case. The trial drew attention to the actions of the luxury conglomerate and its efforts to quash criticism by targeting those seeking to expose its business practices. Notably, LVMH's CEO, Bernard Arnault, was called to testify in the trial, but he denied any knowledge of the illegal surveillance. Arnault defended his reputation as a business leader who had built LVMH into a global powerhouse. François Ruffin, who was one of the key figures in the case, welcomed the verdict, expressing satisfaction with the decision. He criticized the lack of accountability for LVMH itself, with his lawyer, Benjamin Sarfati, saying they regretted that Arnault was not a defendant. François Ruffin himself, in a post on social media, praised the conviction as a victory against corporate espionage and the abuse of power. LVMH declined to comment on the verdict, but its prior settlement in 2021 indicates a desire to close the case without admitting guilt. Meanwhile, Bernard Squarcini's legal team is preparing to appeal, and the public and media will likely continue to scrutinise the implications of the case for both corporate practices and the integrity of France's intelligence services.
New York Times
07-03-2025
- Business
- New York Times
France's Ex-Intelligence Chief Convicted in Influence Peddling Trial Involving LVMH
A Paris court on Friday found France's former intelligence chief, Bernard Squarcini, guilty of using public resources to benefit the French luxury giant LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton in a trial that shed light on how the company sought to shield its public image for years. Mr. Squarcini, who oversaw France's spy agency from 2008 to 2012, was hired as a security consultant by LVMH upon leaving his government post. The court ruled that he had abused his power several times to assist the company. It gave him a four-year prison sentence, with two years under house arrest and two years suspended, and ordered him to pay a fine of 200,000 euros, or about 217,000 dollars. His lawyer said he would appeal the ruling. Among other things, the court found Mr. Squarcini complicit in a bizarre illegal surveillance operation that LVMH conducted on François Ruffin, a gadfly French journalist who began making an unflattering documentary in 2012 about the company and its chief executive, the French billionaire Bernard Arnault. Though the company was not among the defendants, the two-week trial took an unexpected turn in November when the head judge requested Mr. Arnault to testify as a witness. In the packed Paris courtroom, the corporate magnate portrayed himself as a successful business leader who had labored to turn LVMH into the world's top luxury conglomerate, with 75 brands, including Louis Vuitton and Dior, and 200,000 employees worldwide. When Mr. Arnault first took over the company in the 1980s, it had just 10,000 employees. He denied ever knowing of any illegal surveillance. Mr. Squarcini was tried alongside nine other defendants — mostly civil servants, police officers and consultants. Two of them were found not guilty. As the main defendant in the case, Mr. Squarcini was convicted of myriad offenses, including mishandling classified information and complicity in the unauthorized activity of a private investigator. He was found not guilty on a range of other charges. In its verdict, the court said Mr. Squarcini had, in particular, 'misappropriated state resources in order to satisfy the clandestine concerns' of his key client, court added that Mr. Squarcini had 'designed and validated a system of close surveillance' of Mr. Ruffin and a satirical publication that he headed, Fakir, whose staff members helped make the film, 'Merci Patron,' which portrayed Mr. Arnault as a symbol of corporate greed. 'The court handed down severe sentences, but with a severity commensurate with the seriousness of the attacks made by Mr. Squarcini and his acolytes on freedom of the press, freedom of expression, the rights of Francois Ruffin and the rights of the Fakir newspaper,' Benjamin Sarfati, Mr. Ruffin's lawyer, said in an interview on Thursday. 'But we would have liked LVMH to be on trial, because the people convicted today acted at LVMH's request,' he added. In 2021, LVMH settled with a French court to avoid criminal prosecution in connection with the inquiry into Mr. Squarcini by paying a €10 million fine. The company declined to comment on the verdict. Mr. Ruffin praised it. 'Proud that we resisted the collusion of France's number one fortune and its number one cop,' Mr. Ruffin wrote in French on X on Friday. 'The luxury group makes magic dresses. But it has its feet in the mud of gutter espionage, with infringements on freedom of expression and privacy.'
Reuters
07-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
France's former spy chief found guilty of using public resources to aid LVMH
PARIS, March 7 (Reuters) - A Paris court on Friday found the former head of France's domestic security services, Bernard Squarcini, guilty of using public resources to benefit LVMH, in a trial that shed light on efforts by the world's biggest luxury group to shield its image. Squarcini, who headed France's domestic security services from 2008 to 2012, was later hired by LVMH ( opens new tab as a security consultant. Squarcini was also found to be complicit in the illegal surveillance of Francois Ruffin, a French lawmaker who at the time was an activist, along with members of his left-wing publication Fakir as they planned to disrupt an LVMH shareholder meeting and prepared their satirical documentary film "Merci Patron". Squarcini was given a four-year prison sentence with two years suspended, and fined 200,000 euros ($217,300). His lawyers said he would appeal against the verdict. LVMH boss Bernard Arnault in November told judges that he did not know about the illegal surveillance ordered nearly 10 years ago by a close associate who died in 2018. Ruffin's lawyer, Benjamin Sarfati, welcomed Friday's verdict. "We are satisfied with this decision that serves as a call to order, though we regret the absence of Mr Bernard Arnault among defendants," he said. During the trial, Arnault's testimony grew tense at times, with the famously discreet billionaire showing his annoyance at questioning from Ruffin's lawyers. LVMH, which reached an agreement in 2021 to pay a 10 million euro settlement to close a criminal probe into its role in the spying case, declined to comment. ($1 = 0.9204 euros)
