Corruption is Everywhere > Sarkozy Appeals Fraud Conviction; Big pharma Sanofi investigated for market manipulation

France's ex-president Sarkozy appeals 2012 campaign conviction

A Paris court on Wednesday began hearing former president Nicolas Sarkozy's appeal against his conviction for illegal campaign financing in a failed 2012 re-election bid.

By:NEWS WIRES

The 68-year-old former French head of state appeared relaxed as he appeared for the hearing in a grey suit, speaking with people in the public gallery before proceedings began.

Conservative Sarkozy has faced a litany of legal problems since his one term in office from 2007 until 2012, and has been charged separately with corruption, bribery, influence-peddling, and breaking campaign financing laws.

In the so-called "Bygmalion affair", the former head of state was sentenced to one year in prison in September 2021 on charges that his right-wing party, then known as the UMP, worked with a public relations firm to hide the true cost of his 2012 re-election bid.

France sets strict limits on campaign spending.

Prosecutors said that the firm, Bygmalion, invoiced the UMP rather than the campaign. They said Sarkozy spent nearly 43 million euros on his 2012 campaign, almost double the permitted amount of 22.5 million euros.

Thirteen other people -- including members of the UMP party, accountants and Bygmalion executives -- were found guilty of various charges, ranging from forgery and fraud to complicity in illegal campaign financing.

In the original trial, only four defendants, including the deputy head of the campaign, Jerome Lavrilleux, admitted any responsibility.

Sarkozy denied all wrongdoing, insisting that while there had indeed been "false invoices and fictitious agreements... the money had not gone into (his) campaign".

The appeal trial is scheduled to last nearly five weeks, with Sarkozy slated to testify on November 23.

Contacted by AFP, Sarkozy's lawyers declined to issue any statements prior to the hearing.

Sarkozy, who was criticised by the prosecution in the original trial for only turning up for the day of his actual hearing and deeming himself to be "above the fray", is expected to attend some of the most important sessions this time around.

He was charged last month in a separate witness tampering case relating to alleged Libyan financing of his 2007 presidential win.

Sarkozy also faces a separate probe into possible potential influence-peddling after he received a payment by Russian insurance firm Reso-Garantia of three million euros in 2019 while working as a consultant.

Despite his legal troubles, Sarkozy remains a hugely influential figure on the French right, courted by politicians and writing regular books that are major publishing events.

(AFP)

French financial authorities probe drug gaint

Sanofi over financial reporting irregularities

Nov. 7 (UPI) -- French drug giant Sanofi is under investigation by judicial authorities for allegedly putting out false financial reporting statements, possibly to manipulate the market.

Parquet National Financier prosecutors are eight months into a probe surrounding the dissemination of misleading information related to the drugmaker's financial communications, a judicial source told Bloomberg on Tuesday.

Sanofi insisted that as a listed company its financial information was "accurate, precise and sincere," fully audited by two auditing firms and denied knowledge of the investigation.

"Sanofi is not aware of any preliminary investigation on its 2017 accounts or other matter by the Parquet National Financier. We stand by the accuracy of our accounts," Sanofi said in a statement to CNBC.

French online news outlet La Lettre, which first reported the probe, said it was linked to the 2017 launch of Sanofi's blockbuster eczema jab, Dupixent.

The asthma and skin drug is the company's best-selling product with sales of Dupixent expected to top $10 billion in 2023. Sales could go much higher if trials to confirm its effectiveness in treating a chronic lung disorder are successful.

Sanofi's share price was down 0.5% at $90.20 a share in late afternoon trade on the Euronext exchange in Paris, after plunging as much as 2.5% earlier.

The stock had been trading at $107 or above for weeks prior to Sanofi issuing a shock 2024-2025 profits warning Oct. 27 and saying it was putting its consumer health business up for sale, sending the price spiraling down 20%.

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Corruption is Everywhere - Friends of Sarkozy; Liverpool Mayor; Ukraine's Feeble Effort; Obrador's Troublesome Family

Former French interior minister under formal investigation for criminal association in Sarkozy-Libya fundraising scandal

3 Dec 2020 14:55 

FILE PHOTO: Former French President Sarkozy and former Elysee General Secretary, Claude Gueant,

with Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi ©

An interior minister who served in Nicolas Sarkozy’s government has been placed under investigation for “criminal association” by French judges as part of investigation into Libyan funding of the 2007 presidential election.

France’s national prosecutor's office confirmed on Thursday that former interior minister Claude Gueant is now under formal investigation on charges of criminal association. 

The charges brought against him are part of an ongoing investigation into possible Libyan financing of former President Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential campaign in 2007. 

While it is suspected that the accused spent €42.8 million to finance the campaign, nearly twice the maximum authorized amount, it is also alleged that the campaign was funded from the pockets of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. 

Gueant was Sarkozy's chief of staff from 2007 to 2011 and held the interior portfolio in 2011 to 2012. 

The former secretary general of the Elysee was already under investigation for nine offenses in this case, but charges of criminal association reportedly make it easier for the judges to bring the case to trial. 

As his trial began on Monday, he told the court “I do not recognize any of the abominations which have been levelled at me for six years.” 

French-Lebanese businessman who once claimed to transport Gaddafi funds to Sarkozy campaign by suitcase 'arrested in Beirut'

4 Dec 2020 17:46

(L) Ziad Takieddine © REUTERS / Gonzalo Fuentes; (R) Nicolas Sarkozy © REUTERS / Philippe Wojazer

Authorities in Beirut have reportedly arrested a French-Lebanese businessman linked to allegations of illicit Libyan financing for Nicolas Sarkozy’s 2007 French presidential election campaign, on foot of an Interpol request.

Ziad Takieddine fled to the Lebanese capital earlier this year after a French court sentenced him to five years in prison in a separate case involving millions of euros he’d allegedly received for arms sales to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. 

Takieddine previously claimed he had personally delivered suitcases carrying a total of €5 million from Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in Tripoli to Sarkozy’s chief of staff back in France in 2006 and 2007. 

However, he retracted the claim about the Libyan funds last month, instead accusing the magistrate overseeing the trial of the former French president of having twisted his words to make him “say things that are totally contradictory” to what he actually said.

Takieddine will now be questioned by Lebanon’s general prosecutor to establish whether or not the charges against him are justified and can be proven in court, the AFP reported. If the case proceeds, his trial could be held in Lebanon, where he is a citizen, or in France, with him being extradited back there.  

Sarkozy is currently on trial in a separate case, accused of corruption and influence-peddling for allegedly attempting to bribe a magistrate in return for information about an investigation into his party’s finances. 

On Thursday, former French Interior Minister Claude Gueant was charged with being part of a criminal conspiracy over the Libyan funding investigation. Gueant was seen as a close ally of Sarkozy, working as his chief of staff from 2007 to 2011 and his Interior Minister from 2011 to 2012.

Liverpool mayor among group arrested over alleged bribery & witness intimidation in building corruption probe – reports

4 Dec 2020 18:44

FILE PHOTO. © Getty Images / Anthony Devlin

The first directly-elected mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, was reportedly arrested by Merseyside Police on Friday over alleged bribery and witness intimidation, as part of an investigation into development contracts.

A police statement detailing the arrests did not name the Labour mayor explicitly as a suspect in the "ongoing investigation", however, local reports have identified him as one of those detained.

Police said that those held include three men, aged 62, 33 and 46, "arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit bribery and witness intimidation." Two other men, aged 25 and 72, were arrested "on suspicion of witness intimidation."

Officers said the five had been taken to stations across Merseyside, "where they will be questioned by detectives."

A spokesperson for Liverpool City Council said it is "co-operating with Merseyside Police in relation to its ongoing investigation. We do not comment on matters relating to individuals."

Anderson or his office have yet to confirm or deny the reports of his arrest, however a Labour spokesperson confirmed that the mayor has been "administratively suspended" from the party, pending the outcome of the case.

Ukraine's Parliament Restores Anti-Corruption Legislation

Annulled By Highest Court

December 04, 2020 20:06 GMT

Ukraine's Constitutional Court

Ukraine’s parliament voted on December 4 to reimpose penalties for officials who provide false information about their incomes, defying an earlier ruling from the nation’s highest court.

Ukraine's Constitutional Court in October annulled key parts of the nation's anti-corruption legislation, sparking a widespread backlash at home and abroad. The decision threatened Western financial aid to Kyiv and visa-free travel to Europe Union countries.

The nation’s highest court declared unconstitutional a provision that required officials to submit electronic asset declarations. It also struck down legislation that made providing false income information a criminal offense.

Ukraine has suffered from widespread corruption for decades that has held back foreign investment and economic growth. The prior legislation, passed after the 2013-14 Euromaidan protests that pushed Moscow-friendly President Viktor Yanukovuych from power, helped combat the problem by exposing and punishing those officials involved in graft.

The new bill passed by parliament on December 4 is less severe.

According to its provisions, an official who deliberately conceals assets worth between 1.3 million and 9 million hryvnya ($46,000 and $318,000) can be fined between 42,500 and 51,000 hryvnya ($1,500 to $1,800) or sentenced to between 150 and 240 hours of community service.

Those who fail to declare assets worth over 9 million hryvnya will face a fine of between 51,000 and 85,000 hryvnya ($1,800 to $3,000) and between 150 and 240 hours of community service or up to two years of “restrictions of freedom” that do not include imprisonment.

Additionally, any official convicted of hiding income can be banned from holding public office for up to three years.

Well, that might slightly improve government coffers, but will do nothing to rescue one of the most corrupt societies in the world.

Felipa Obrador and Pío López: AMLO’s relatives

pointed out by corruption and nepotism

By Yucatan Times

December 4, 2020

The most recent corruption case in AMLO’s family circle is related to his cousin, whose company obtained millionaire contracts from Pemex.

MEXICO CITY (Latinus/Carlo Loret de Mola) – Although the fight against corruption and nepotism are pillars of López Obrador’s government, various family members have caused him to be harshly criticized due to the lack of these principles.

First Cousin

The most recent case is that of Felipa Guadalupe Obrador Olán, first cousin of the president, whose company, Litoral Laboratorios Industriales, has been benefited with contracts from Pemex for more than 365 million pesos.

According to information obtained by Latinus through transparency, the company won in 2020, along with other companies, three contracts for 133 million pesos to carry out water analysis, noise assessment, and characterization of hydrocarbons and chemicals in Pemex Exploration and Production facilities.

It is essential to mention that in 2019, the same company won, along with Marinsa de Mexico, a contract for 231 million pesos to introduce chemical products to wells in shallow waters off the Yucatan peninsula, which will expire until 2022.

Litoral Laboratorios Industriales is based in Campeche and specializes in chemical analysis and water and hydrocarbons study. In the last decade, it has provided services to the federal government and Campeche and Tabasco’s states.

According to research by journalist Carlos Loret de Mola, the company has won direct awards with the Mexican Petroleum Institute (IMP), Airports and Auxiliary Services, the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), and the Institute of Security and Social Services for State Workers (ISSSTE).

It is worth mentioning that during the administration of Enrique Peña Nieto, Felipa Obrador’s company benefited from at least 25 contracts. However, unlike those awarded under the present administration, these were with a lower frequency and amounts.

Given this situation, López Obrador said that “the director of Pemex will surely inform” about the case, but insisted that his government will not allow acts of corruption, nepotism or influence by any member of his family.

“I cannot fail the people. Corruption, impunity, influence peddling, cronyism, nepotism, none of these scourges of politics can be allowed. If a family member does something wrong, he should be judged even if he is a child,” he said.

Likewise, the president recalled that in June 2019, he established a memorandum. He promised not to accept “under any circumstances” that any member of his family could do business with the government.

Brother

Another representative case of corruption in the family circle has to do with his brother Pío López Obrador -who’s videos were broadcasted- taking money from David León, ex-coordinator of Civil Protection, to contribute to the operations of the National Regeneration Movement (Morena) in Chiapas.

Due to those videos, AMLO was harshly criticized by the opposition and by public opinion. The head of the Federal Executive declared in a press conference that he was aware of such videos so that if the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) called him to testify, he would be willing to do so.

Sister-in-Law

However, there is still another case of corruption among the president’s family members, and it involves Concepción Falcón Montejo, wife of Ramiro López Obrador, AMLO’s brother.

In this case, she was identified as a participant in the alleged embezzlement of millions in Macuspana, Tabasco – the municipality where López Obrador is from – which would have caused the resignation of 11 local cabinet officials, among them the mayor of the district, Roberto Villalpando Arias.

The treasury’s embezzlement would have been for more than 200 million pesos between 2019 and 2020, from the deviation of resources corresponding to the Fund of Contributions for Social Infrastructure (FAIS) and the Fund of Contributions for the Strengthening of the Municipalities (Fortamun).

Cleaning up states as utterly corrupt as Mexico or Ukraine must be an impossible job, especially when your family is part of the problem. 

One more PML-N MPA to face corruption case in Punjab

Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz leader Malik Saif-ul-Malook Khokhar. — File photo

LAHORE: The Anti-corruption Punjab has registered another corruption case against a PML-N lawmaker, Malik Saif-ul-Malook Khokhar on Friday over allegations of corruption.

Khokhar has been accused of causing a huge loss amounting in the millions to the national exchequer through fraud and forgery, according to the Anti-corruption Punjab.

 The case against the MPA was filed on the recommendations of Lahore's deputy commissioner, said the Anti-corruption Punjab officials.

The Anti-Corruption Punjab has accused the MPA of registering a forged surrender deed of a land measuring 22 canals, 11 marlas. Officials have alleged that he carried out the fraudulent activity with the help of the area's patwari (registrar) Iftikhar Ahmed and sub-registrar Raja Nadeem.

A surrender deed is prepared at the time of sale or transfer of a joint heirship.

Officials vowed to recover each and every rupee of the government from the accused.

French Celebrities Call for ‘Fight Against Anti-Semitism’ Before ‘It’s Too Late’

Islamization is Progressing - in France

© Jack Guez / AFP

Following a string of horrendous killings of Jews in France, more than 250 prominent artists and politicians have signed a manifesto denouncing the "new anti-Semitism" marked by "Islamist radicalization" in the country.

"We demand that the fight against this democratic failure that is anti-Semitism becomes a national cause before it's too late. Before France is no longer France," reads the manifesto published by Le Parisien and signed by politicians from the left and right, including former President Nicolas Sarkozy and film star Gerard Depardieu. 

The letter goes on to say that anti-Semitism is a problem not only for Jews, and that each attack measures French “democratic maturity.”

France, according to the letter, “has become the theater of deadly anti-Semitism. This terror spreads along, provoking both popular condemnation and a media silence that the recent white march has helped break.”

The signatories, who lambasted what they view as a "quiet ethnic purging" driven by rising Islamist radicalism in France, accused the media of remaining silent on the matter.

“Why this silence?... Because electoral cunning calculates that the Muslim vote is ten times higher than the Jewish vote.”

"In our recent history, eleven Jews have been assassinated – and some tortured – by radical Islamists because they were Jewish," the manifesto says. "French Jews are 25 times more at risk of being attacked than their fellow Muslim citizens."

France’s Jewish community of 500,000 is said to be the largest in Europe. According to the declaration, 50,000 Jews have been "forced to move because they were no longer safe in certain cities and because their children could no longer go to school."

The latest attack to shock France took place in March when an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor, Mireille Knoll, was found in her burned Paris apartment with 11 stab wounds in a crime confirmed to be anti-Semitic in nature.

The woman’s death prompted 30,000 people to join a march in her memory in France, with President Emmanuel Macron pledging to fight anti-Semitism.

In April 2017, a Franco-Malian assailant beat to death a 65-year-old retired school teacher, Sarah Halimi, before throwing her from a third-story window in Paris. The man, identified as Kada Traore, shouted religious (that would be Islamic) slogans while murdering the woman in her apartment.

In March, Brigitte Bardot also spoke out against the out-of-control Islamization of France.

Libyans Who Once Opposed Gaddafi Now Regret Western-Led Regime Change

Who actually benefits from American-led wars across the globe? The aftermath of American-led conflicts shows it is not the common people, though the military and politicians vow they are liberating and protecting them.

The Sunday Mail, Zimbabwe’s “leading family newspaper,” has published accounts of a number of Libyans who expressed regret over Muammar Gaddafi’s overthrow in 2011, despite the fact some of them even took up arms against him. 

As one said:

“‘I joined the revolution in the first days and fought against Gaddafi,’ former revolutionary fighter Mohammed, 31, said from the southern city of Murzuq. ‘Before 2011, I hated Gaddafi more than anyone. But now, life is much, much harder, and I have become his biggest fan.’”

In 2011, we were told Gaddafi was going to commit grave bloodshed against his own people and that as a result, the international community needed to intervene to protect Libyan civilians. This proved to be false, according to an analysis of statistics obtained by Human Rights Watch. Further, an investigation conducted by Amnesty International also found a number of claims against Gaddafi were fabricated, as noted by the Independent:

“Nato leaders, opposition groups and the media have produced a stream of stories since the start of the insurrection on 15 February, claiming the Gaddafi regime has ordered mass rapes, used foreign mercenaries and employed helicopters against civilian protesters.

“An investigation by Amnesty International has failed to find evidence for these human rights violations and in many cases has discredited or cast doubt on them. It also found indications that on several occasions the rebels in Benghazi appeared to have knowingly made false claims or manufactured evidence.”

Is it possible that Hillary didn't properly secure the Benghazi embassy because she thought the rebels there were on her side?

The so-called “no-fly zone” the U.N. Security Council Resolution authorized did not allow for regime change, something NATO representatives further promised their Eastern counterparts would not happen. The resolution only authorized the coalition forces to take all necessary measures to protect civilians under threat of attack in the country, including Benghazi, while excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory. The resolution requested that the coalition immediately inform the Secretary-General of such measures.

What this “no-fly zone” actually entailed was a full-scale assault on Gaddafi’s forces to ensure none of his aircraft could fly within his own country’s airspace. It also meant anything capable of taking out a coalition warplane would also have to be destroyed.

All of these NATO bombs were allegedly intended to protect civilians.

Furthermore, a Libyan rebel commander went on record to admit his fighters included al-Qaeda-linked jihadists who had fought against U.S. troops in Iraq. These fighters, known at the time as al-Qaeda in Iraq, are now referred to as ISIS. It should be no surprise that ISIS now has a stronghold in Libya following the fall of Gaddafi.

Before the NATO onslaught, Libya had the highest standard of living of any country in Africa. This meant the people enjoyed state-sponsored healthcare, high literacy rates, and other benefits that come with living in a relatively prosperous society. 

In 2015 alone, the country fell 27 places on the U.N. Human Development Index ratings. According to UNICEF, there are now two million Libyan children out of school.

Consumers of corporate media might also be surprised to learn Libya had an inclusive and progressive democracy where decision-making was conducted at the local level. It was not the dictatorship Sacha Baron Cohen incorrectly portrayed in his film, The Dictator.

Regardless of one’s views of Gaddafi, the former Libyan leader was able to provide stability and good governance to the people of Libya. It may be the case that he was responsible for torturing scores of dissidents, but one should bear in mind that the United Kingdom would actually send those dissidents to Gaddafi, knowing full well they would be tortured.

Making this corruption even juicier, former French leader Nicolas Sarkozy, the man who essentially had Gaddafi assassinated, was actually under investigation for having accepted 50 million euros from Gaddafi for his election campaign.

Are we supposed to trust these corrupt politicians to protect the interests of civilians?

To the warmongers within the American political establishment, the destruction of the Libyan way of life was nothing but a game.

As stated by Libyan medical student, Salem:

“We thought things would be better after the revolution, but they just keep getting worse and worse.

“Far more people have been killed since 2011 than during the revolution or under 42 years of Gaddafi’s rule combined.

“We never had these problems under Gaddafi.

“There was always money and electricity and, although people did not have large salaries, everything was cheap, so life was simple.

“Some of my friends have even taken the boat to Europe with the migrants because they feel there is no future for them here.

“I would like to escape this mess and study abroad but I have been waiting a year for a new passport and, even when I do get one, it will be hard to get a visa because all the embassies left in 2014.

“So now I feel like a prisoner in my own country. And I have started to hate my own country.”

This article (Libyans Who Once Opposed Gaddafi Now Regret US-Led Regime Change) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Darius Shahtahmasebi and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11 pm Eastern/8 pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, please email the error and name of the article to edits@theantimedia.org.

It should also be pointed out that there were few, if any, migrants passing through Libya on their way to Europe while Gadaffi was in power. Now, they are endless and many end up being held prisoner for months as they are ransomed by lawless gangs. Female migrants frequently suffer from rape, ransom and slavery. There is very little law and order as there are several groups of criminal and/or terrorist gangs vying for control of the country.

Are the tactics used in Libya similar to those being used in Syria? It seems obvious that western interference in both Libya and Syria have managed to accomplish only despair for the people and have literally manufactured the migrant crisis in Europe. Actions in both countries are both illegal and immoral and we will probably learn absolutely nothing from it.