Press publisher and politician Nicolas Miguet sentenced to 18 months in prison for “price manipulation”

A sentence of five years of ineligibility was also handed down against the founder of the Rally of French Taxpayers.

He appeared for having manipulated the price of his own company, Nicolas Miguet and associates (NMA). Press publisher and former presidential election candidate Nicolas Miguet was sentenced, Wednesday, December 13, to two years’ imprisonment, including one and a half years, by the Paris Criminal Court. He will have to carry out this sentence under an electronic bracelet. A five-year ineligibility sentence was also handed down against the businessman, who tried to run in the last five presidential elections without succeeding in collecting the necessary sponsorships.

Three entities linked to the founder of the Rally of Taxpayers were found guilty of the same acts and sentenced to fines, totaling 1.3 million euros, including more than 500,000 euros suspended.

He plans to appeal

The court considered that the orders placed by Nicolas Miguet, on behalf of these three entities, to buy or sell NMA shares, had the effect of artificially maintaining the share price. Contrary to what the defendant’s lawyer had argued, “intentionality is characterized”estimated the president of the court.

The Financial Markets Authority, at the origin of the investigation, had filed a civil suit, a request deemed admissible by the court, which asked Nicolas Miguet and his three entities to “pay jointly 6,230 euros in compensation for material damage, and a symbolic euro due to the damage suffered by savers”. Nicolas Miguet’s lawyer has indicated his intention to appeal. His client, absent when the decision was rendered, is “relieved that there is no committal warrant”did he declare.