2023-06-12 11:54:52
The Paris prosecutor’s office has opened a preliminary investigation into “With BLM”, the microparty of the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire, after an alert from the National Commission for Campaign Accounts. It would be a question of unpaid debts to service providers, according to information revealed by Mediapart, and which may constitute illegal campaign financing.
The Economic Crime Repression Brigade (BRDE) of the Parisian judicial police must determine whether illegal donations have been made through service provider invoices not paid by this microparty. He had collected 2 million euros for the 2016 right-wing primary, in view of the 2017 presidential election.
The investigation was opened for “participation in the financing of a political party by a legal person through donations or the provision of advantages at a price lower than those usually practiced” and for “acceptance by the political party of these same advantages”, said the prosecution. These offenses are punishable by 3 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros.
Nearly 35,000 euros in canceled debts
Bruno Le Maire had arrived in fifth position in the primary from the right, with 2.4% of the vote, a bitter failure. Despite calls for donations, he subsequently had difficulty in paying off the debts of this microparty, put to sleep after the electoral deadlines.
Mediapart specifies that, out of “more than a dozen” unpaid service providers, the largest debts canceled come from two specialists in political communication: Experian (bill of 24,990 euros not paid) and Catch Digital Strategy (9,000 euros) . Questioned by the National Commission for Campaign Accounts and Political Financing (CNCCFP), the microparty had in particular justified the debts canceled by exceeding the legal limitation period of five years.
With this investigation, it is a new member of the government who is confronted with legal disputes. Several figures of power, from the secretary general of the Élysée, Alexis Kohler, to the Minister of Justice, Éric Dupond-Moretti, via the Minister of the Armies, Sébastien Lecornu, or François Bayrou, are implicated in other files .
Bruno Le Maire, number 2 in the government of Élisabeth Borne, was reappointed in May 2022 as head of Bercy, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, which he led during the first term of the current head of the state, Emmanuel Macron. He now holds the record for longevity in this position under the Fifth Republic, founded in 1958. He was also Secretary of State for European Affairs (2008-2009) and Minister of Agriculture (2009-2012).
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