The affair, revealed almost ten years ago, finally ended with the acquittal of the EDF group and its former boss. The French group and Henri Proglio, prosecuted for favoritism in a case of disputed contracts with consulting firms between 2010 and 2016, were acquitted on Monday, September 30 in Paris, as were eleven of their co-defendants.
The criminal court considered that “criminal intent” of the former general director was not proven. “I am finally recognized as innocent of this type of sick outburst that has tainted me for years.”declared Henri Proglio as he left the courtroom.
The man who ran the energy company between 2009 and 2014 had to appear in court in May and June for forty-four consulting contracts signed with communicators, former business leaders, magistrates, lawyers or journalists, for missions of “lobbying”, “information”, “strategic advice”, ” communication “ EITHER “risk management”with the management of EDF.
For the prosecution, these contracts, worth forty thousand to four million euros each over several years, should not have been concluded in the informal market, but should have been the subject of a public tender.
Two years in prison required
The national financial prosecutor’s office had requested two years of suspended prison and a fine of 200,000 euros against Henri Proglio, 75, as well as a million euros fine against EDF, prosecuted as a legal entity.
At the heart of this issue is a 2010 memo, written at the direction of the CEO, that framed the process of hiring consultants. For the court, “The test has not been reported” that this note “proceeded from genuine criminal intent”.
“Henri Proglio and his secretary general cannot rightly be criticized for having consciously established and applied a contrary procedure” to public procurement rules, declared President Benjamin Blanchet.
Consequently, the eleven consultants prosecuted together with EDF and Henri Proglio for concealment of favoritism were also acquitted. Among them were the former director of Gaz de France and SNCF, Loïk Le Floch-Prigent, the criminologist Alain Bauer, the journalist Jean de Belot and the consulting company of the former CEO of Vivendi, Jean-Marie Messier.
