The national financial prosecutor’s office (PNF) would be moving towards prosecution for the president of the French Rugby Federation (FFR), Bernard Laporte, the businessman and president of the Montpellier Hérault Rugby club (MHR), Mohed Altrad, and the managing director of the 2023 World Cup organizing committee, Claude Atcher, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) sources familiar with the matter, confirming information published on Tuesday January 18 by the daily The Team.
Bernard Laporte, president of the FFR since 2016, is suspected of favoritism for the benefit of Mohed Altrad, on the basis of an investigation opened in 2017. The two respondents contest the elements of this investigation.
The president of the FFR was placed in police custody in September 2020, a few days before his re-election as head of the federation. Mohed Altrad, Claude Atcher and two senior officials of the Federation, its vice-president Serge Simon and its head of international relations Nicolas Hourquet, were also heard.
“No direct citation has been issued in this case to date”, the PNF confirmed to AFP. A decision should be made in the coming weeks and a trial could be held by the end of the year, according to the lawyers.
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What is Bernard Laporte suspected of?
Justice suspects the ex-coach of the Blues (2000-2007) and ex-Secretary of State in charge of sports (2007-2009) of having used his influence so that the company of Mohed Altrad, with whom he had himself signed an image contract, becomes the jersey sponsor of the XV of France at a preferential price, in 2018.
Investigators also suspect him of having intervened with Jean-Daniel Simonet, the president of the FFR appeal committee, to reduce sanctions against Montpellier, on the basis of numerous calls between the two men at the end of June 2017.
In a series of articles published since Tuesday January 18, the daily The Team revealed the content of a report by the Economic Crime Repression Brigade (BRDE) submitted to the prosecution in July.
In a note dated December 21 cited by these counsels, the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office detailed the offenses it intended to retain among those targeted by the investigation (favoritism, illegal taking of interest, influence peddling, corruption, etc.) and the persons who could be cited before the criminal court.
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What do Messrs. Laporte and Altrad for their defense?
Mohed Altrad rejected the charges, Wednesday January 19, on Sud Radio. Contacted by AFP, his lawyer did not wish to speak.
According to Me Jean-Pierre Versini-Campinchi, Bernard Laporte’s lawyer, the report drawn up by the BRDE police officers is “an essentially dependent intellectual construction”, which would be contradicted by the elements of the judicial file.
The note from the PNF for December 2021 “does not endorse all the hypothetical criminal offenses listed by the police”, explained Mr. Laporte in one of his three rights of reply to the daily The Team.
About the sponsorship contract for the jersey of the French team, the police mention in their report cited by the team, an amount of 6.8 million euros against 9.9 million in a first estimate.
This allocation “is beyond reproach”, defended Mr. Laporte in a daily right of reply: “there was no ‘discount’ or ‘gift’ for the benefit of the Altrad group”.
“The 9 million proposal was not accepted by anyone. All the major sponsors and all the communication agencies have been questioned and all have said that 6.8 million euros is an exceptional price! », advance Me Versini-Campinchi.
As for the telephone calls from Bernard Laporte to Jean-Daniel Simonet, which would have aimed to obtain a reduction in the sanctions against Montpellier, they would have been made “in the background, according to Me Versini-Campinchi. There is no longer any question of him being prosecuted.”.
