Stays in palaces
The grenade was unpinned by a former…
Stays in palaces
The grenade was unpinned by a former employee, dismissed in 2020 and still in conflict with the bank. In a letter sent to several bank officials after his dismissal, Pierre Burton, a former accountant, put forward a number of grievances, which were also sent to the courts. He points in particular to 170,000 euros in expenses incurred by the CEO with his personal card and for which the accountant swears that he was unable to obtain an invoice or proof. Among these expenses reimbursed by the bank, there were in particular nearly 70 flights between Biarritz and Paris, London or the United States, and around thirty stays in Parisian and European palaces. The accountant also reported on private plane travel paid for by Bami. How to explain it for a bank with a mainly regional influence, which has 12 branches spread over the South-West, between Biarritz, Lourdes and Bordeaux?
“The employee whom we dismissed for serious misconduct threatened to reveal things to us if we did not accede to his request for compensation”
“We are very controlled. The auditors have certified our accounts without reservation. Of course, you can try to be more than perfect, but I believe that the account statements for my card were enough”, replies Jean-Paul Inchauspé, rejecting that certain expenses can be of a personal nature, even if he confides, during some trips have tried to “optimize his time”. As for stays in palaces, arguing that these expenses covered five years, they are, according to him, a matter of “representation” needs. “I am the first commercial of the bank”, assures the boss of the establishment, who reports an international clientele and specifies that “one board of directors out of two is held in Paris”.
The CEO also denies that the jobs occupied or occupied by two of his brothers are inconsistent. It must be said that in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, the cradle of the Inchauspé family, one of the brothers, Vincent, member of the board of directors and employee of the bank is best known for running… the store family linens. Jean-Paul Inchauspé does not wish to comment on the nature of the position held by his brother.
Contacted, the interested party who confesses not to have a professional email indicates for his part to deal in particular with the “American clientele” of the bank. “With computers, I can work anywhere,” he explains, assuring that the linen store “is not a priority” for him. “It’s not as if I worked at the BNP. I’m part of the family, it gives me more freedom of action,” he explains.
“A painful period”
Referring to the period when he was employed by the bank, the second brother who no longer has a function at Bami points to “a painful period when things are not white or black” but on which he don’t want to expand.
“The employee whom we dismissed for serious misconduct threatened to reveal things to us if we did not accede to his request for compensation. His claims were riddled with errors. When we were raided, we were very surprised. We then filed a complaint for blackmail,” says Jean-Paul Inchauspé. An investigation would also have been opened. Solicited, the lawyer for the former employee, Mr.e Xavier Terquem ensures for his part that his client “was dismissed after raising the question of the costs. He acted transparently. Could he hide the information he knew? A hearing before the industrial tribunal should be held this year.
La Bami was founded in 1970 by the Basque businessman and politician Michel Inchauspé, following dissension within a family which had, since 1945, extended its fabric trading activity by a banking activity.