The reasons for Alain Griset’s sentence to six months suspended prison sentence – archyde

Alain Griset was not present at the deliberation hearing, Wednesday, December 8, in front of the 11^e chamber of the Paris Criminal Court. It’s his lawyer, M^e Patrick Maisonneuve, who was responsible for announcing the bad news to him: the minister responsible for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), 68, was found guilty of having declared “In an incomplete or deceptive manner” his patrimonial situation and his interests at the High Authority for the Transparency of Public Life (HATVP), in August 2020, after his appointment to the government.

Prime Minister in office to have appeared, on October 12, before a correctional court, Mr. Griset was sentenced to six months in prison suspended and three years suspended ineligibility. The judges were below the requisitions of the deputy prosecutor, Julien Goldszlagier, who had demanded, during the hearing in October, ten to twelve months in prison, a fine of 30,000 euros and a penalty of ineligibility three years, which would entail “Automatically the prohibition to exercise public functions”.

Resigned from the government nearly two hours after the announcement of his conviction, Alain Griset will appeal the judgment, as confirmed by his lawyer at the end of the hearing.

Mr. Griset was convicted of having “Concealed” so “Intentional” to the HATVP the holding of a share savings plan (PEA) of 171,000 euros and “Direct participations” (for 41,000 euros) in several companies, such as Française des jeux or Natixis. On his PEA, 130,000 euros invested belonged to the National Confederation of Crafts, Trades and Services (Cnams) of the North, an inter-professional organization that Mr. Griset had headed since 1991.

“Aggravating” elements

The court recalled that Mr. Griset violated the law of October 2013 on the obligation of transparency imposed on ministers and elected officials. He considered that the Minister Delegate “Sought to reimburse the amounts belonging to the Cnams which were on his PEA rather than declaring these funds on the date of his appointment” in Bercy, July 6, 2020.

On August 4, 2020, the Minister Delegate hardly mentioned the existence of this PEA to the HATVP. It was not until October 2020, after a letter and at the end of the legal period of two months to make changes, that he corrected his declarations. In November 2020, the HATVP sent a report to the public prosecutor’s office, considering that this omission was intended “To prevent the revelation of facts liable to receive the criminal qualification of breach of trust”.

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