2023-06-12 16:20:00
Did Bruno Le Maire benefit, via his microparty, from illegal donations during his campaign for the right-wing primary in 2016? This is at least the subject of the investigations which were launched on June 2 for ” participation in the financing of a political party by a legal person through donations or provision of advantages at a price lower than those usually practiced ” and for ” acceptance by the political party of these same advantages “, said the Paris prosecutor’s office. These offenses are punishable by three years’ imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros.
Concretely, the Brigade for the repression of economic delinquency (BRDE) of the Paris judicial police must establish whether illegal donations have been made to this microparty entitled “With BLM”, which had collected two million euros for the primary of the right. of 2016, according to the Mediapart site which revealed the existence of this preliminary investigation, then confirmed by a source close to the file at AFP. During this election, Bruno Le Maire came in fifth position with only 2.4% of the vote. And despite calls for donations, he had subsequently struggled to pay off his debts for this microparty, put to sleep following the electoral deadlines.
Bruno Le Maire says he is surprised
In the wake of these revelations, the Minister of the Economy, who rejects these accusations, said to himself ” surprised “ referral to justice by the National Commission for Campaign Accounts and Political Funding, his entourage told AFP. “The CNCCFP had indeed validated the accounts of the BLM association without reservation by letter dated November 21, 2022”which indicates, still according to the same source, that the accounts “does not reveal either incomplete scope or manifest inconsistency”.
However, the investigators have in the viewfinder invoices from unpaid service providers. Mediapart specifies that, on “more than a dozen” of unpaid providers, the largest canceled debts come from two specialists in political communication: Experian (with an unpaid invoice of 24,990 euros) and Catch Digital Strategy (9,000 euros). Asked by the CNCCFP, in observations that can be consulted online, the microparty had in particular justified these canceled debts by exceeding the “legal limitation period” of five years. “On two invoices, the CNCCFP requested additional information, which was provided to it. These two invoices were the subject of a dispute with the service providers. In the absence of a return from them, these two invoices were canceled at the end of the limitation period, in accordance with accounting rules.explained the entourage of Bruno Le Maire to AFP.
Several investigations within the government
Bruno Le Maire is not the only one to be investigated. Other members of the government are also struggling with legal disputes like the Keeper of the Seals Eric Dupond-Moretti, Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu or even the Secretary General of the Elysée Palace Alexis Kohler. The Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt, will notably be tried from November 27 to 30 for favoritism, suspected of having arranged the award of a public contract dated 2009-2010 to the water treatment group Saur when he was mayor of Annonay (Ardèche).
As for the President of the Republic, his election campaign accounts are also of interest to justice: two judicial inquiries have been opened by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) on suspicion of illegal financing of these campaigns and on the links between relatives of the President and members of the consulting firm McKinsey, who might have worked for free during the 2017 presidential campaign. A preliminary investigation for aggravated laundering of aggravated tax evasion has also been underway at the PNF since the end of March.
(With AFP)
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