Agnès Firmin Le Bodo, who has just been appointed interim head of the Ministry of Health, was singled out on Thursday 21 December by Mediapart for having received "without declaring them" gifts worth an estimated 20,000 euros from Urgo laboratories, as a pharmacist.
The minister, who rose through the ranks after the resignation of Aurélien Rousseau for disagreement over the immigration law, "is the target of a judicial investigation opened in June 2023 for having received gifts, without declaring them," writes the online news site.
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On Thursday evening, the public prosecutor of Le Havre, Bruno Dieudonné, confirmed to AFP that an investigation had been opened "on the charge of 'unauthorised receipt by a health professional of benefits provided by a person producing or marketing sanitary products', in the continuation of the case that led to the conviction of Urgo laboratories in January 2023 by the criminal court of Dijon".
"The secrecy of the investigation prevents me from communicating further, in particular on the identity of the pharmacists targeted by this investigation. Over a period from the end of 2015 to the end of 2020, six of them received gratuities for a total amount of more than 12,000 euros," the magistrate added.
"As part of my function as a pharmacist, indeed an investigation is underway," Agnès Firmin Le Bodo confirmed Friday to France Bleu Normandie. Contacted by AFP, the minister's entourage said she would "only respond to the competent authorities".
Agnès Firmin Le Bodo "among the biggest alleged beneficiaries"
A pharmacist by profession, Agnès Firmin Le Bodo, who runs a pharmacy in Le Havre (Seine-Maritime), "is suspected of having had luxury products delivered 21 times, from 2015 to 2020, – watches, bottles of wine and magnums of champagne, boxes for weekends... – for a total amount estimated at 20,000 euros, from Urgo laboratories", according to Mediapart.
"In this way, Urgo sought to retain pharmacists and increase their commercial margins," Mediapart continues.
In January 2023, Urgo Laboratories was fined €1,125,000, of which €625,000 was suspended, for offering gifts to pharmacists, in return for giving up commercial discounts.
According to Mediapart, "a second part of the case" has begun, with the justice system looking into all pharmacists who received gifts.
In Normandy, the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) is seized of around forty cases. "The lightest cases (less than €1,000 in gratuity) are classified. While the other cases give rise to the opening of a preliminary investigation, in June 2023," explains the newspaper, according to which Agnès Firmin Le Bodo is "among the largest alleged beneficiaries".
With AFP
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