Three men, including two former police officers, were taken into custody
Monday morning at the premises of the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI), in Levallois-Perret (Hauts-de-Seine), learned franceinfo this Wednesday, September 28 from concordant sources, confirming information from the Parisian and Sunday newspaper. They are suspected of having taken advantage of their networks to deliver confidential information to various institutions, including Paris-Saint-Germain. In slang, we call it “the cheat”: a policeman who works behind the scenes for an individual.
The investigators suspect the former DGSI police officer and another police officer, on availability, of asking former colleagues to consult police files for the benefit of the PSG, in order to find out about certain employees, and even to play their networks to obtain information on legal proceedings, such as that targeting striker Neymar for a slap in the face to a Rennes supporter in the final of the 2019 Coupe de France.
According to a source familiar with the matter, it all started with a book, The Shadow Wars of the DGSI. In this 2019 book, the author provides information considered by the authorities to be “sensitive”. Justice opens an investigation for “compromise of the secrecy of national defense”. It is at the turn of this file that a former official of the DGSI appears, who joined the ranks of the Parisian football club, where he presents himself as “responsible for supporter relations”.
On July 27, 2021, the Paris public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation for “violation of professional secrecy, influence peddling, corruption, forgery and use of forgery, assistance with illegal entry and stay in an organized gang, misappropriation of the purpose of a data file, compromise of national defense secrecy and illegal taking of interests”.
The investigations are entrusted to the General Inspectorate of Internal Security (IGSI, the inspection service of the DGSI) and to the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN).
According to a source familiar with the matter, investigators raided the Paris-Saint-Germain club in October 2021.
The serving police officers who have been able to consult files are not in custody at this stage. Those who are heard are former police officers. According to information from franceinfo, the third man taken into custody on Monday morningStun “lobbyist”described in an article in the magazine Young Africa as close to the son of Muammar Gaddafi and having his habits in the stands, guest of the Parc des Princes.
“The investigation is still in its early stages”, says someone close to the case. The police custody of the three suspects, heard by the IGSI and the IGPN, can last up to 96 hours. Magistrates and investigators are trying to draw the outlines of this network and the possible financial fallout for the suspects. They are also trying to find out what PSG officials knew about these file consultations.