Given the hearings held in the spring and the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF)’s confidence in the strength of its case, the decision may come as a surprise. The Paris criminal court acquitted, on Monday, September 30, Henri Proglio, general director of EDF between 2009 and 2014, and the public electrician, accused of “favoritism.” They were accused of having signed, under the direction of the businessman, around forty consulting contracts with star service providers without tender or public tender, for a total amount In the end The prosecution in its indictment estimates it at 36 million euros, after a first estimate of 22 million.
“I am finally recognized as innocent of this type of sick outburst that has tainted me for years.”Henri Proglio reacted as he left the courtroom. In June, a two-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of 200,000 euros were demanded against the 75-year-old industrialist, and a fine of 1 million euros against EDF, prosecuted as a legal entity.
But the court, chaired by Benjamin Blanchet, considered in its decision that“Mr Proglio cannot rightly be accused of having consciously established and applied a contrary procurement procedure” to the law and that“criminal intent” It was not demonstrated.
The court is not convinced of the PNF argument
At the heart of the matter is a note dated September 6, 2010 written by former EDF secretary general and Mr. Proglio’s right-hand man, Alain Tchernonog. This document established rules for the award by the public group of certain consulting contracts, free of charge and directly to the general management. For the PNF, this procedure, perceived as systematic, constituted a violation of the public procurement code, desired by Mr. Proglio to hire consultants at his discretion. The former general director, for his part, defended the will of “refocus” at the highest level of these contracts and a concern for efficiency.
The prosecutor’s argument did not convince the criminal court. this note “it had no real objective to establish a derogatory procurement procedure whose very essence would have been the violation of the fundamental principles that govern public procurement”he wrote in his opinion.
He also considers himself unable to conclude that “He knowingly established a system of favoritism promoted by Mr. Proglio in order to build and promote an effective network of influence capable of achieving the renewal of his mandate as president and CEO of the EDF company”. Appointed in 2009 by Nicolas Sarkozy, then President of the Republic, at the head of the company, Mr. Proglio received, five years later, a new mandate from the next head of state, François Hollande.
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