The concierge was warned. He was therefore not surprised, this evening in June 1993, to see Bernard Tapie, his face hidden by a scarf, enter through a back door in the court of Valenciennes (North). Eric de Montgolfier had given him the digital code. The prosecutor had ended up giving in to the businessman who absolutely wanted to meet him to plead his case in the case of the rigged match between Valenciennes and Olympique de Marseille, of which he was the owner.
In a “greedy attitude” according to a witness of the scene, Eric de Montgolfier then sits down in a deep armchair, low to the ground, while he positions himself much higher behind his desk. And let him talk. “He began by telling me that he was late because of an appointment at the Elysee Palace as if to better imply that a national destiny awaited him, the former prosecutor remembers today. He also explained to me that I deserved better than a small post of magistrate in the provinces … “
But Eric de Montgolfier is not ready to close his eyes. A few hours before their interview, the investigators unearthed an envelope of 250,000 francs in the garden of the parents of one of the players of Valenciennes. And above all his trainer confessed to the attempt at corruption put in place by the Marseille leaders. “In reality, this investigation was very, very simple,” continues Eric de Montgolfier.
Driven away, Bernard Tapie leaves the office and summarizes in two sentences the meeting at Francis Debacker, his lawyer at the time: “Forget my little Francis! Mr. prosecutor does not like football! “Finally sentenced to two years in prison including eight months closed, the businessman will be forced to add his name to the list of the few ministers who have slept behind bars. “Which proves that Bernard Tapie was a litigant like the others,” summarizes Eric de Montgolfier. Except he didn’t know… ”
The day he calls Eva Joly “complete asshole”
Died this Sunday at the age of 78 from cancer, Bernard Tapie leaves in the collective consciousness the image of a man perpetually entangled in legal affairs. The castles of Bokassa, the Testut affair, the resale of Adidas to Crédit Lyonnais, the tax fraud linked to his yacht “Le Phocéa” … The latter also allowed the meeting of the businessman and Eva Joly.
We are then in 1994. Examining magistrate, Eva Joly seeks to know if “Nanard” does not reduce the taxes linked to the use of her yacht, thanks to a system of sub-invoicing. The businessman is not suspicious and speaks freely on the phone while he is on tapping. “Eva Joly? She’s a complete asshole, known as such, sick! He blurted out to one of his friends.
But it is above all the continuation of the conversation that interests the judge. Tapie explains that he plans to go to Rwanda to avoid having to answer to justice. Informed, Eva Joly sends the police to arrest him the next morning, at 6 am, before he has time to set sail.
“Bernard Tapie was a very endearing person,” she said today to 20 minutes. I remember the times he was in my judge’s office. He was so convincing. You wanted to go along with everything he said. And yet, he often lied… You had to be strong to resist Tapie. “
The day he grabs his lawyer’s robe to sit him down
It is also, and undoubtedly, why he exhausted dozens of lawyers throughout his career. “It was not an easy customer, recognizes Hervé Témime who has assisted him in recent years in the Adidas-Credit Lyonnais affair. You had to be able to say no to him at the start. Afterwards, it was okay. He was very respectful of everyone’s freedoms… ”
As long as you show it in its best light. Now retired, Francis Debacker remembers the plea he delivered in October 1995 to the Douai Court of Appeal (North). Just before him, two lawyers have already dissected the technical threads of the VA-OM case. It only remains for him to talk about the man Tapie was. Francis Debacker gets up: “I saw him cry, yes, yes … I assure you,” he blurted out at court in an attempt to move them.
“I was launched when I felt someone behind my back grabbing my dress to make me sit down,” he remembers today. I turned around. And I saw that it was Tapie himself who was green with rage. He didn’t want me to talk about him like that. No one could show it in a weak position. “
The day he offers his sneakers, in prison, to “Dédé la Sardine”
However, Bernard Tapie suffered from his legal setbacks. “Do you know what it’s like to have bile?” That’s it. You have understood why you have cancer, ”he even launched on France 2, referring to these cases. At the end of his life, it was the controversial 2008 arbitration case in his favor that wore him down. A private court was set up in 2007 to settle the dispute over Crédit Lyonnais, which will pay it 403 million euros a year later. A decision then annulled in civil for “fraud”. The cunning “Nanard” had to return the money.
This last legal fight by Bernard Tapie should have ended on Wednesday, October 6. In three days then. While he had been released at first instance, the Paris Court of Appeal was preparing to deliver its judgment in this complex case. On June 2, the general prosecutor’s office requested a 5-year suspended prison sentence for complicity in fraud and embezzlement of public funds, but the businessman, very weakened by his cancer, had given up attending his trial. He therefore died while remaining innocent in this matter.
165 days in the prison of Health
There were also these 165 days spent in the prison of Health, in Paris, then in that of Luynes, in Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône).
“The first night, I was on my stomach crying,” he confessed in… 2015. Because, when he was behind bars, “Nanard” always wanted to convey the image of a strong man. From a model inmate.
“In prison, he was at 100%!” Says Eva Joly. I remember that disturbed young people were put in his cell with him. He took care of them. And then he was the leader. He organized football matches for example. “One day, he even offered his sneakers to André Guelfi, better known by the nickname” Dédé la Sardine “. A sulphurous businessman involved in the Elf affair, he spent a few days with “Nanard” in the prison of Health.
Long enough for the two men to come to an agreement. “Dédé” agrees to finance Bernard Tapie then in bankruptcy (15,000 euros per month, according to The chained Duck) on condition that the latter pays him half of what he expects to receive in court in the controversial case of the resale of Adidas. Tapie therefore died before he could honor his part of the deal. “When we see that he has wasted his last 25 years with this kind of business, it’s sad,” concludes Eva Joly. He had arrived at the age where one takes advantage. “