Europe 1 with AFP // Photo credit: MARCOS DE PAULA / AGENCIA ESTADO / Agência Estado 13:30 pm, June 01, 2023, modified at 13:31 pm, June 01, 2023
The CEO of Casino Jean-Charles Naouri was placed in custody Thursday in the premises of the Paris judicial police as part of an investigation for price manipulation and insider trading in particular, we learned from a source close to the file. The CEO is being interviewed by the Financial Brigade, the source said.The CEO of Casino Jean-Charles Naouri was placed in custody Thursday in the premises of the Paris judicial police as part of an investigation for price manipulation and insider trading in particular, we learned from a source close to the file. The CEO is auditioned by the Financial Brigade, said this source, confirming information from the JDD. The preliminary investigation was opened in 2020 by the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) for "manipulation of organized prices, active and passive private corruption" and "insider trading".
It follows a report from the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) and relates to facts that date back to 2018 and 2019. According to a source close to the case, this investigation concerns the links of Mr. Naouri and the Casino group with the press boss Nicolas Miguet. When contacted, Jean-Charles Naouri Naouri's lawyer, Marie-Alix Canu-Bernard, did not respond. When asked, Sébastien Schapira, who also represents him, could not immediately be reached.
Conciliation procedure
In May 2022, AMF investigators visited the group's headquarters and Jean-Charles Naouri's home. Casino formalized Friday its entry into a conciliation procedure for a period of four months to renegotiate its large debt, announcing its willingness to sell a hundred supermarkets and hypermarkets to the Intermarché group.
Casino, which employs more than 50,000 people in France and 200,000 worldwide under many brands, has been struggling for years to get out of debt, so far without success.