(March 7): The former head of France’s domestic intelligence agency was found guilty in Paris of overstepping his remit and misusing public resources to help LVMH track blackmailers targeting billionaire boss Bernard Arnault more than a decade ago.

Bernard Squarcini was also convicted on Friday for participating — once he left public service — in an unlawful surveillance operation of an Arnault critic while working as a private contractor for LVMH.

The Paris criminal court gave Squarcini a two-year jail term that he can serve outside of prison with an electronic bracelet, fined him €200,000 (RM955,424) and confiscated a further €450,000. Judge Benjamin Blanchet said Squarcini “deliberately chose to break the law for financial gain.”

Marie-Alix Canu-Bernard, a lawyer for Squarcini, said her client will appeal his conviction.

Neither Arnault, nor the company he controls were on trial. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE agreed to pay €10 million as part of a settlement with prosecutors in 2021 that didn’t include any admission of guilt.

Still, a highlight of the court hearings was the November testimony of Arnault where he denied knowing anything about any blackmail plot against him over an alleged extramarital affair. The billionaire suggested that it would have been “perfectly normal” for his teams to handle it without consulting him.

The LVMH CEO called the whole matter “wacky”. He pointed to the fact that no images were ever published and that the supposed paparazzo who was allegedly demanding €300,000 in exchange for photos was never found. 

During the trial, Squarcini claimed that the Direction Centrale du Renseignement Intérieur he headed at the time was perfectly justified to allocate units and resources in order to see whether the 2008 blackmail attempt could amount to an effort to destabilise LVMH.

The second set of accusations concern the surveillance of François Ruffin, a left wing activist turned member of parliament, when was working on a documentary called “Merci Patron!” — a critique of LVMH and the power of the wealthy.

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