The boss of the paparazzi agency BestImage Mimi Marchand, suspected of "witness tampering" in the case of suspicion of Libyan financing in the presidential campaign of Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007, was referred this Saturday after two days in police custody , we learned from sources close to the case.

Michèle Marchand, nicknamed "Mimi" in the middle of the press people, must be presented to an investigating judge for an indictment in an investigation for "witness bribery" and "criminal association", according to these sources, confirming information from the

Parisian

.

Four other police custody

The judicial investigation was opened after an interview granted last November by Ziad Takieddine to a journalist from

Paris Match

, who had visited Lebanon with a photographer from BestImage.

Four other people also placed in police custody were also referred, according to one of the sources familiar with the matter.

Three of these people are the advertiser Arnaud de la Villesbrunne, former director of the Publicis agency, the businessman Pierre Reynaud and Noël Dubus, a man convicted of fraud.

Paris Match

journalist

François de Labarre was also taken into police custody on Thursday but was released in the evening, without prosecution at this stage.

In this interview given in November 2020, Ziad Takieddine withdrew his statements against Nicolas Sarkozy, after initially accusing him of having received money for his presidential campaign from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

"The truth is out," the former head of state immediately triumphed.

Two months later, questioned on January 14 in Beirut by examining magistrates Aude Buresi and Marc Sommerer in charge of the Libyan case, the intermediary, known for his versatility, declared that he did not confirm "the words" of the 'interview, claiming that they had been "deformed" by Paris Match, which "belongs to a friend of Sarkozy".

According to

Le Parisien

, Noël Dubus, who went twice to Beirut to meet Mr. Takeddine there before his retraction, would have benefited from suspicious payments, via Mr. Villesbrunne, who was one of the providers of Mr. Sarkozy.

According to

Liberation

, the businessman Pierre Reynaud would have advanced to Mr. Dubus funds to be given to Mr. Takieddine.

Justice

Suspicions of Libyan funding: The custody of its journalist lifted, "Paris Match" denounces "intimidation"

Justice

Libyan funding: Mimi Marchand and a journalist from Paris Match in custody

  • Jail

  • Funding

  • Investigation

  • Justice

  • Nicolas sarkozy

  • Libya