The former French lawyer Robert Bourgi, great heir to the networks of Jacques Foccart (founder of Françafrique) wrote in his memoirs, which he is currently promoting in France, that he received 1 million dollars per year from Ali Bongo between 2009 and 2013.
Robert Bourgi therefore pocketed the tidy sum of 5 million dollars over 5 years, or around 3 billion FCFA.
Asked on the set of France 24 by journalist Marc Perelman if the lawyer has a good conscience for having received such enormous sums, Robert Bourgi kicked in.
« I’m here to talk about my memoir. I am not before an investigating judge », he was annoyed knowing that no judge will open a judicial investigation against him or indict him in this case.
The title of his memoirs is evocative: “ They know that I know everything“. Pursuing this relic of Françafrique could open Pandora’s box, hence probably his arrogance and freedom of tone when he talks about the African shenanigans of Jacques Chirac, Dominique de Villepin or Nicolas Sarkozy.
« The million dollars, Mr. Perelman, was deposited into my professional account. It didn’t escape tax », blurted out Bourgi again, cornered on the kitty received from Gabon, the country which fattened him while the populations suffered.
A source close to the Gabonese presidency told the editorial staff of Gabonactu.com in 2013 that the amount that Robert Bourgi received from the Gabonese presidency was capped at 3 billion FCFA per year. The lawyer already received this sum under his friend Omar Bongo, according to the same source.
The quarrels between Ali Bongo and Bourgi broke out when the former Gabonese president decided to reduce the prize pool. A sum of 1.5 billion FCFA would have been offered to him. Furious, Bourgi rejected the offer, hence his virulent attacks against Ali Bongo before and after the 2016 presidential election.
The money was officially used for lobbying operations with political leaders, business circles and networks of influence in France.
The sequel could hold other revelations if Ali Bongo also decided to write his memoirs, also opening the chapter of his connections with Robert Bourgi.
Daniel Etienne
2024-09-30 00:10:17
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