French Luxury Group LVMH Pays 10 Million Euros to Escape Prosecution

The French luxury group LVMH pays 10 million euros to escape criminal prosecution. The court in Paris approved the settlement on Friday.

The case is many years old. In 2011, an investigation was launched into the links between former French intelligence chief Bernard Squarcini and the luxury group LVMH.

In October 2019, the investigation was expanded following a complaint from François Ruffin, a left-wing MP who, while a journalist, was alleged to have been spied on for years by Squarcini at the request of LVMH. That espionage came to light during the shooting of a documentary about the luxury group: “Merci Patron!”.

Ruffin had argued in a Paris judge not to accept the settlement because it represents just 0.02 percent of LVMH’s annual revenue.

But the judge nevertheless accepted the settlement, on the one hand, because the facts took place long ago, and on the other, because the company cooperated with the investigation and took steps to prevent these facts from happening again in the future, it said.