This is an unusual auction, which is scheduled for this Tuesday at the Intercontinental Hotel in Bordeaux. A Falcon 7X from the presidency of the Republic of Congo, seized in 2020 on the tarmac of Mérignac airport, will be offered “to the highest and last bidder”, with a price starting at seven million euros. It is the Pestel-Debord cabinetauctioneer in Paris, who will be responsible for carrying out the transaction.
Published in the “legal notices” section of South West And The echoes, At the end of August, this auction undoubtedly surprised more than one person. What is this jet from the presidential fleet of Congo doing in Bordeaux? To understand the matter, we have to go back to 2020, when this Falcon landed on the tarmac at Mérignac, for an overhaul within the Dassault factories from which it came.
Sale confirmed by the Bordeaux Court of Appeal
It was at this moment that he had been seized by justiceat the request of the company Commisimpex, belonging to a Lebanese businessman, Mohsen Hojeij, in conflict with the President of the Republic of Congo, Denis Sassou-Nguesso, due to numerous unpaid bills, which have been the subject of legal proceedings for several years.
By judgment of December 13, 2022, the Bordeaux judicial court ordered the judicial sale of this aircraft at public auction. Decision confirmed by the Bordeaux Court of Appeal on June 29, which set the price at the sum of 7 million euros. This judgment is, however, subject to appeal to the Court of Cassation.
Between 32 and 55 million euros used
The auctions should not fail to soar, when we know that the new device was sold for 63 million, and that it takes between 32 and 55 million euros for second-hand ones. Left the factory in 2014, the aircraft for which Dassault continued to carry out maintenance, has only 1,181 flight hours.
In addition to the purchase price of the jet, the buyer will also have to pay security fees to the company Dassault, which has been appointed guardian of the luxury plane since June 8, 2020. Fees which amount to 828,954 euros , “amount stopped on August 31, 2023” specifies Pestel-Debord.