A Paris court sentenced 69-year-old Bernard Squarcini to two years in prison, which can be served at home with an electronic bracelet and an additional two years suspended. A fine of €200,000 ($AUD345,000) was also issued.
Legal representatives for Squarcini have indicated he intends to appeal the verdict. The court case reviewed the use of public resources to locate blackmailers targeting LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault in 2008.
LVMH boss Bernard Arnault told the court in November that he did not know about the illegal surveillance, claiming it was ordered by a close associate who has since passed away.
“Though the company [LVMH] was not among the defendants, the two-week trial took an unexpected turn in November when the head judge requested Mr. Arnault to testify as a witness,” a report from The New York Times details.
“In the packed Paris courtroom, the corporate magnate portrayed himself as a successful business leader who had laboured to turn LVMH into the world’s top luxury conglomerate, with 75 brands, including Louis Vuitton and Dior, and 200,000 employees worldwide.
“When Mr. Arnault first took over the company in the 1980s, it had just 10,000 employees.”
Squarcini was also found to be complicit in illegal surveillance of Francois Ruffin, a French lawmaker and activist. Ruffin was also involved in the production of a film, ‘Merci Patron’ (2016), which documented the lives of families who lost their jobs in connection with LVMH.
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