France's richest man, LVMH chief Bernard Arnault, testified Thursday in the influence-peddling trial of the former head of France's domestic intelligence agency, denying any knowledge of an alleged scheme to protect the luxury group.
Bernard Squarcini, ex-head of the DCRI security service (since renamed the DGSI), is one of 10 men on trial and charged with using his security contacts for private gain, including obtaining confidential information on behalf of LVMH.
Squarcini faces 11 charges in the Paris criminal court case, including influence peddling, misuse of public funds and compromising national security information.
"I would like to point out that I am here as a witness, a simple witness, and that my indictment was never considered by the investigating magistrates," Arnault said in his opening statement.
"I was completely unaware," of the alleged scheme, the billionaire added.
The charges relate both to the period when Squarcini headed the DCRI from 2008-12 and to his subsequent return to the private sector, when he worked largely for LVMH as a consultant.
Investigators say that as early as 2008, DCRI officers were deployed to try and identify a blackmailer targeting Arnault.
Other allegations relate to spying on then journalist Francois Ruffin -- now a leading left-wing lawmaker -- and from 2013-16 the leftist newspaper Fakir that Ruffin founded.
Before his 2017 election to parliament, Ruffin produced a satirical film, "Merci Patron" ("Thanks Boss"), about Arnault that won a Cesar award -- French cinema's equivalent of an Oscar.
Ruffin, whose lawyers requested that Arnaut testify, has said that the process had "been decapitated" because LVMH itself was not in the dock.
The company settled out of court in 2021, paying 10 million euros in fines in the settlement. Arnault was interrogated by investigating magistrates but neither he nor LVMH were ever put on trial.
LVMH had been concerned about the activities of Ruffin, who at the time was planning to disrupt its shareholder meetings.
But Arnault insisted that in the accord with investigating magistrates "it is stated that the group does not recognise any responsibility", saying the deal had been "proposed" by the magistrates.
Agreeing to the deal was a question of "avoiding being caught up in the media uproar that followed", Arnault told the court.
He slammed Ruffin, saying "I think he is trying to exploit this trial for personal, media, political and even commercial reasons".
Arnault, who regularly vies with the likes of Elon Musk for the title of the world's richest man, has along with his family a fortune of $158.6 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
