The president of the French Rugby Federation, currently behind, had been sentenced in 2022 for passive corruption, influence traffic and illegal taking of interests. This is another case.
mo12345lemonde with AFP
The president of the French Rugby Federation (FFR), Bernard Laporte, back for three weeks, was placed in police custody, Tuesday, January 24, for laundering of aggravated tax fraud, announced the national financial prosecutor’s office ( Pnf).
According to The newspaper L’Equipe , which revealed the information, two other people were also placed in police custody. The investigations, launched in August 2020, were entrusted to the service of judicial finance surveys (SEJF).
This is a different affair from that which led Mr. Laporte before the Paris Criminal Court, at the end of 2022. The president of the FFR was indeed sentenced to first instance to two years of suspended prison, at a fine of 75,000 euros and two years of prohibition to exercise any function related to rugby, among others for passive corruption, influence traffic and illegal taking of interests.
The indictment of the former Minister of Sports intervenes the day after the start of the vote, from Monday to Thursday, of amateur rugby clubs which must validate – or not – the appointment of Patrick Buisson as Deputy President of the FFR . The current vice-president of the Federation, whose name was proposed by Bernard Laporte (in agreement with the federal statutes), said last week that he wanted to “embody the end of business”.