The former Minister of Budget was prosecuted for granting in 2009 a tax advantage to Bernard Tapie after the controversial arbitration rendered in the Lyonnais Credit case.
Le Monde
The Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) pronounced, Monday, October 3, a dismissal in favor of Eric Woerth, targeted since 2019 by a judicial information for having granted in 2009 a fiscal boost, disputed , at Bernard Tapie, announced the lawyer for the ex-budget minister, M e Jean-Yves Le Borgne.
“The CJR plunged into the meanders of this technical affair and a kind of general agreement intervened to conclude that there was no matter to blame anything for the Minister of the Budget of the time, “commented M
e Le Borgne, who represented Mr. Woeerth absent, after having read the deliberation of the CJR.
investigation committee
In May, the CJR public prosecutor had requested a dismissal for Mr. Woeerth, indicted since June 2021, believing that the intentional element of the concussion offense was “not sufficiently characterized” .
m. Woerth, who notably exercised the function of budget minister between 2007 and 2010, was suspected of having granted an indu tax advantage to Mr. Tapie – died in October 2021 of cancer -, after the controversial arbitration of his conflict With Crédit Lyonnais, rendered in 2008 and canceled since civil justice. The businessman had been given 403 million euros to settle his dispute with the bank on the sale of adidas.
“very favorable taxation” conditions “
Part of the money was paid to Groupe Bernard Tapie (GBT), one of the holdings of the former president of Olympique de Marseille. For the tax administration, the money paid to GBT had to be taxed for corporate tax (33.3 %), but the Tapie camp asked for the much more favorable scheme of the capital gains (1.67 %). Finally, in a letter of April 2, 2009, the ministerial firm of Eric Woerth had decided to tax two thirds of the compensation at 1.67 % and the third party remaining at 33.3 %.
The Paris prosecutor’s office opened in March 2016 a judicial information, following a letter from the Attorney General at the Court of Auditors, Gilles Johanet, transmitted to Bercy and then to justice. This high magistrate wondered about “the very favorable taxation conditions” granted by Eric Woerth to Bernard Tapie. A source close to the file had noted at the time that the solution proposed by the tax authorities would have led to a payment of tax of 100 million euros and that GBT had ultimately paid 11 million euros.
The facts of concussion likely to be criticized for Mr. Woerth having been committed in the exercise of his functions in the government, the Parisian investigating judges seized with the case had declared themselves incompetent.