“I experience a lot of incomprehension, anger and a feeling of injustice”, reacts, Thursday, November 25, on France Inter Stéphane Richard, the CEO of Orange, the day after his conviction on appeal to one year suspended prison sentence and 50,000 euros fine, in the case of arbitration between Bernard Tapie and Crédit Lyonnais.
>>> Orange: the departure of Stéphane Richard, an earthquake for the company
Stéphane Richard, who announced that he was appealing to the Supreme Court, was condemned by the Paris Court of Appeal for complicity in the misappropriation of public property. He was found guilty of having played a decisive role in this arbitration, rendered in 2008. The Court also considers that the CEO of Orange betrayed the confidence of the Minister of the Economy at the time, Christine Lagarde, “by his occult actions”, by negotiating directly with Bernard Tapie and by secretly using the minister’s electronic signature. Stéphane Richard was then the chief of staff of Christine Lagarde.
“Did Christine Lagarde say that I had betrayed her trust? Never”, affirms Stéphane Richard, believing that we “is in a situation where we have judges who come to examine a file years later, and come to make an assessment that the main interested party has never held. That raises questions.”
The current CEO of Orange denies having decided on the arbitration alone. “Is it normal for a chief of staff to pay the consequences of this arbitration decision? “, he asks, “I do not believe that”.
“If there is fraud in arbitration, I am totally foreign to it.”
Stéphane Richard, CEO of Orangeat France Inter
Unlike the criminal court, which had pronounced a general acquittal in July 2019, the Paris Court of Appeal ruled that the arbitration awarding 403 million euros to Bernard Tapie, after the resale of Adidas, which he was the owner, at Crédit Lyonnais had been the subject of a “fraud”.
In civil matters, Bernard Tapie was sentenced in 2015 to reimburse the public money received during the arbitration. The Paris Court of Appeal ruled on Wednesday, in the criminal section, that the arbitration process had been “rigged”.
After the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Stéphane Richard submitted his resignation to the Orange board of directors. He remains Chairman and Chief Executive Officer until the appointment of his successors, no later than January 31.
.@srichard : “If there has been fraud in arbitration, I am totally foreign to it” # le79Inter pic.twitter.com/CuuNdGFZT6
– France Inter (@franceinter) November 25, 2021