The Court of Cassation on Wednesday ordered a new trial for ex-Orange boss Stéphane Richard and civil servant Jean-François Rocchi in the controversial 2008 arbitration case between Bernard Tapie and Crédit Lyonnais.
The highest French judicial body followed the recommendations of the Advocate General who, at the hearing, had considered that the two protagonists could not be condemned for complicity in the embezzlement of public funds, insofar as the Court of Appeal has, in its decision, recognized that they “did not know the fraudulent nature of the arbitration” which had awarded 404 million euros to Bernard Tapie.
« The Court of Cassation censures the declarations of guilt of the director of cabinet [Stéphane Richard] and the president of the consortium [Jean-François Rocchi] “, ruled the Court. “Indeed, they were unaware of the fraudulent nature of the decision rendered by the arbitral tribunal. Therefore, the Court of Appeal could not consider that they were complicit in the embezzlement”, underlined the Court of Cassation.
heavy sentences
Stéphane Richard, at the time chief of staff to the Minister of the Economy, Christine Lagarde, was given a one-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of 50,000 euros, which led to his departure from Orange. Jean-François Rocchi (former head of the Consortium de realization (CDR) – entity responsible for managing the liabilities of Lyonnais) was given a two-year suspended prison sentence and a 25,000 euro fine.
For not having appealed against this sentence, Christine Lagarde was found guilty in 2016 of “negligence” by the Court of Justice of the Republic, but exempted from punishment. The Court of Cassation also quashed the decision of the Court of Appeal which declared admissible the civil action of the French State.