The former head of French intelligence was sentenced, spied on Arnault

The former head of French internal intelligence Bernard Squarcini69 years old, he was sentenced to four years in prison, two of whom suspended, and a fine of 200,000 euros for using his security contacts in order to obtain confidential information and privileges for the benefit, in particular, of the CEO of LVMH Bernard Arnault.

Squarcini – nicknamed “Lo Squalo” – was tried for eleven crimes, ranging from the trafficking of passive influences to the inspection of public funds, including the impairment of secrets of national defense, the falsification of public documents and the complicity in the violation of professional secret.

The court yesterday has it acquitted by some accusations And he reclassified others. In particular, the former head of French intelligence was held responsible for having monitored, between 2013 and 2016, the journalist Francois Ruffin and his newspaper Fakir, precisely on behalf of the French group. At the time, Francois Ruffin, now a deputy of the ecological group and possible candidate for the presidential elections in 2027, was shooting the film ‘Patron goods!’ – awarded with Cesar for the best documentary in 2017 – and he intended to interrogate the CEO of the French group that controls almost two thirds of the fashion market. Arnault, during his testimony at the hearing, has never been accused, has always denied being aware of a plan in favor of his group, even accusing Ruffin of “exploiting” the process. Immediately after the verdict, Ruffin claimed that with this sentence it was established that “there was a collusion between the French giant – first in Europe by capitalization – and the former number one of the country’s services”.

According to the prosecution, in 2008 Cantcini unduly commissioned agents of the Central Directorate of internal intelligence (DCRI) to supervise “a man who (according to him) wanted to blackmail Bernard Arnault”, obtained secret information from the police – also on the murder of the lawyer Antoine Sollacaro, and made use of his knowledge to facilitate passport and visa procedures. The defense lawyers, who had instead asked for the acquittal, denounced a “singular lack of impartiality” in the conduct of investigations by the instructors’ judges, as well as a “lack of contradictory”, announcing that they will appeal.

The Criminal Court of Paris has also forbidden those ramparts to carry out the intelligence and advice activity for five years, while the definitive part of its prison sentence will be taken for granted under an electronic bracelet. The Court also underlined that Squarcini used its powers and the means of the state “to satisfy private interests”, “designed and validated a system of very close surveillance of the activity and members of an association whose existence was perfectly legal”.

During the trial, the representative of the Public Prosecutor’s Office had asked for four years of imprisonment with the suspension of the conditional of the sentence and a fine of 300,000 euros per assigns, a “high emeritus official”, guilty according to him of “extremely serious facts”. Several police officers and economic intelligence consultants were also on trial together with gibers and seven of them were sentenced to penalties ranging from six months in prison with a conditional suspension to three years in prison, two of which always with a conditional suspension of the sentence, and a fine of 75,000 euros. Among the suspects there were also the former magistrate of the Court of Appeal of Paris Laurent Marcadier and the prefect Pierre Lieutaud. Both were acquitted.