For the last day of the Tapie trial, the lawyers of the businessman, who will be fixed on his fate on July 9, defended the honesty of their client.
Neither "stratagem" nor "shenanigans": the lawyers of Bernard Tapie strongly disputed Thursday in Paris all "faking" in the arbitration which had granted 403 million euros in 2008 to the businessman, the last day his trial in Paris for "swindle". The judgment will be known on July 9th.
"Tapie is not crook"
"Bernard Tapie did not commit any offense, Bernard Tapie is not a crook," thundered at the beginning of his plea before the criminal court Me Hervé Temime, one of the defenders of the weakened businessman at 76 years old by a double cancer.
The prosecutor's office required five years in prison against Bernard Tapie to punish the implementation of a "rigged" arbitration, which had awarded him 45 million euros for his non-pecuniary damage, in order to settle his old dispute with the Credit Lyonnais, linked to the resale of Adidas in the 1990s.
Three years in prison against Stéphane Richard
Prison sentences were also requested against four of his co-defendants. Three years imprisonment including 18 months suspended were required against the CEO of Orange Stéphane Richard, Christine Lagarde's chief of staff at Bercy when entering arbitration.
These "extravagant penalties" come "to compensate the weakness of the accusation", "empty of evidence", lambasted Me Temime. Close to him, Bernard Tapie, dark blue suit and scarf tied around the neck, acquiesces to each of the remarks, smiling in corner, the look often turned towards the opposite party. If the controversial arbitration was permanently annulled in civil for "fraud", and that Bernard Tapie was sentenced to repay the sums collected, the criminal court is not "a registration chamber", said Hervé Temime. "On a criminal level, it is not possible to condemn Bernard Tapie," added the criminal.