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Already convicted in the case of cabinet bonuses paid between 2002 and 2004, Claude Guéant, former Minister of the Interior of Nicolas Sarkozy, was serving his sentence on parole. However, the judge considered that he was late in repaying his fine and the damages he owed.
Former Minister of the Interior and Secretary General of the Élysée Palace, he was the right-hand man of Nicolas Sarkozy. Monday, December 13, Claude Géant was imprisoned in the prison of Health (Paris). Justice considers that he does not reimburse quickly enough the sum of 180,000 euros that he was ordered to pay. His lawyer, Me Philippe Bouchez El Ghozi, protests: “He does not have this money and he explained it to the courts and therefore we cannot pay for what we do not have. He sold some real estate. This money was used to help her two children who were in great financial difficulty..“
Between 2002 and 2004, Claude Guéant was Sarkozy’s chief of staff at the Ministry of the Interior. He takes the money intended for the police investigation costs to give himself and his collaborators an additional salary, which is illegal. In 2017, he was sentenced to two years in prison, including a closed for embezzlement of public funds and to a fine of 180,000 euros. He mustt, still, pay 115,000 euros. The judge considers that he did not meet his obligations on time and placed the former minister in detention for nine months. But the legal setbacks of Claude Guéant are not yet over, since he is also implicated in the so-called case of “Élysée polls“, in which the prosecution requested a year in prison against him.