A dramatic investigation .. Money transferred from the UAE saved the extreme right in France

A dramatic story triggered by an investigation published by the French MediaPart site on a "rescue operation" from the UAE benefited from the far-right National Front party (later renamed the National Rally) led by Marine Le Pen, at the end of June 2017.

The € 8 million loan enabled the extremist party to emerge from a severe financial crisis following the 2017 presidency, which would have subjected it to strict legal measures.

Mediabart said the loan was made by a well-known French businessman on the African continent, Laurent Foucher, on the basis of a contract signed in Bangui, Central African Republic, but the source of the amount was not clarified.

According to the site, it was proved that the money was transferred by the UAE finance company "Noor-Capital" in Abu Dhabi, under the supervision of one of its officials, French-Swiss Olivier Cogiol, whose name appeared in a number of criminal investigations.

In addition to being suspected of being involved in a tax havens case and an investigation into corruption in the Kodiran gold mine in Mali, he proved in January that he masterminded the sale of three tonnes of Venezuelan gold to UAE-based Noor Capital. The sale is legal, despite sharp criticism from the opposition.

On its website, Noor Capital defines itself as "a private joint stock company operating in the field of financial investments, licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE with a capital of AED 360,000,000."

Her vision is to continue to grow "through our clients' financial services trading platform, financial advisory, asset management, banking and brokerage services."

Investigation
To ensure respect for the legal procedures in this loan, the French public company called the lender Fusher, and four bank officials questioned him about his objectives of providing the money to Le Pen.

Mediabart said that the bank soon closed all the party's accounts, as well as the accounts of MP Jean-Luc Chaffosser, who had previously brokered his party for a Russian loan amounting to 9 million euros in 2014, and it was he who started negotiations for the loan of the UAE.

The loan, in August 2018, prompted the National Commission in charge of tracking the financial accounts of French political parties' electoral campaigns to ask the extremist party to provide all the details associated with the loans it had received from material persons, and then endorsed the information provided by Le Pen.

The website said that while Foucher replied that his initiative to provide the loan stemmed from his desire to help the party, which assured him that the loan "a life or death story" for him.

Fuscher did not specify the source of the amount. He pointed out that it was part of the money he owned with a partner, while his media adviser later explained that the loan was provided by Fusher from his own money.

Mediabart said he had tried to inquire about the source of the money but had received no response.

According to the French website, the party once again tried to use Fawcher to obtain a new loan because of financial difficulties, but unfortunately that French law had changed, and tightened the screws on loans and financing by material persons.

According to the site, the clients of Noor Capital put their money in accounts not opened in their name, so when the company transfers money, it is difficult to know the owner.

Fuscher told Mediabart that he did not believe there was a problem in transferring 8 million euros from the UAE as Noor Capital was his bank and praised Kogiol.

For his part, Chavoser told Mediabart that Kogiol was not the one who managed the loan, but Fusher is the lender, expressing his desire not to go into details in respect of professional secrets associated with the file.

Mediaapart confirmed that it violated what was stated in an earlier statement by Shavoser last April, when he denied that Fusher was the lender.

Olivier Kogiol and Noor Capital declined to comment, and the NPF refused to answer Mediaapart's questions.