After being questioned for several days in a fraud case, the CEO of French incumbent France Telecom Orange, Stephane Richard, was placed under formal investigation yesterday (12 June).
Fleur Pellerin, the digital economy minister, told RTL radio today…
After being questioned for several days in a fraud case, the CEO of French incumbent France Telecom Orange, Stephane Richard, was placed under formal investigation yesterday (12 June).
Fleur Pellerin, the digital economy minister, told RTL radio today that the question regarding Richard’s future at the helm of the company, which is 27%-owned by the government, will be answered by “the executive board, which will meet in the next few days”.
The ongoing investigation relates to an arbitration case between businessman Bernard Tapie and the Credit Lyonnais bank in 2008. Richard was a close aid to former finance minister Christine Lagarde when Sarkozy’s government decided to opt for an arbitration, which eventually saw Tapie being awarded €403m (US$537m) in damages.
Richard has denied any wrongdoing and his lawyer has reportedly appealed the decision regarding the placement under formal investigation. Under French law, formal investigation means there is serious or consistent evidence pointing to implication of a suspect in a crime.
Lagarde, now at the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has the status of ‘assisted witness’ in the case.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Orange told local media that the formal investigation does not have any consequences for the operator and that Richard would be at his desk this morning. The CFE-CGC/UNSA union at Orange has also confirmed its support for the CEO in the name of presumption of innocence and said that a change of management could have damaging consequences to the company.
