After 20 months of detention in the 1990s, following his conviction for misuse of corporate assets, Pierre Botton had founded an association to fight recidivism. Nearly 25 years after his release from prison, the ex-businessman was this time sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday by the Paris criminal court. Pierre Botton was tried for embezzling money from his association to fight recidivism.
Hundreds of thousands of euros in diverted donations
Upon his release, the repentant businessman had founded an association, "Les prisons du coeur", which would become "Together against recidivism". It attracts wealthy patrons, such as the Axa and Vinci groups, as well as renowned sponsors such as Michel Drucker and Yannick Noah. Pierre Botton then becomes an interlocutor of the public authorities, he is even charged with a mission on the "prison shock" in 2010.
Three years ago, it was the subject of a report by Tracfin. The anti-money laundering service of Bercy had detected suspicious transfers between the personal account of Pierre Botton and that of his association. He was found guilty of having diverted hundreds of thousands of euros in donations for the works of his apartment in Paris, his villa in Cannes and luxury trips.
Pierre Botton was not present at the hearing, the judges issued an arrest warrant against him. His lawyer told Europe 1 that the announcement of the judgment had been postponed for a while, before being finally confirmed that day, preventing Pierre Botton from being present.