The CEO of the supermarket group Casino is reportedly facing suspicion of price manipulation.
(Photo: imago images/PanoramaC)
Paris The boss of the French supermarket chain Casino, Jean-Charles Naouri, is on suspicion of gang price manipulation, corruption and insider trading in the sights of the judiciary. The French financial prosecutor confirmed to the Handelsblatt that investigators questioned the manager on Thursday in Paris about these allegations. Several French media reported that the CEO had been taken into police custody.
The affair, which dates back to 2018 and 2019, is said to revolve around Naouri’s alleged links with controversial journalist and businessman Nicolas Miguet. According to the newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, Miguet, publisher of various financial information products, is said to have received six-figure fees from Casino while allegedly recommending that small shareholders buy Casino shares.
Investigations have been going on for a long time
The financial prosecutor’s office did not provide any details of the allegations. The investigations were initiated after a tip from the French financial market supervisory authority AMF and have been running for some time. According to French media, financial investigators searched the casino group’s headquarters and Naouri’s private home in May 2022. Naouri and Miguet have not yet publicly commented on the allegations.
Miguet, with whom Naouri is said to have been in contact, is a dazzling figure: he ran several times as an independent candidate for various political offices, including even the French presidency. However, his political ambitions were not marked by success.
Miguet has repeatedly had to pay fines in connection with stock market tips in its publications. The financial market watchdog of the AMF sentenced the journalist and one of his media outlets to a total fine of 800,000 euros for concealing conflicts of interest in investment recommendations and price manipulation.
Casino share price slides
Casino’s share price slipped to a record low at times on Thursday, peaking at 9.5 percent to 5.04 euros. Naouri has led the retail giant, which includes casino markets as well as supermarket chains such as Monoprix and Franprix, for 25 years. The group, which employs a good 50,000 people in France and around 200,000 people worldwide, is highly indebted at 6.4 billion euros.
Last week, Casino asked for an arbitration process with its creditors to renegotiate the debt burden. There are also plans to sell 180 branches to competitor Intermarché. At the end of 2020, Casino had already sold more than 500 stores of its discounter Leader Price to Aldi Nord.
Meanwhile, Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky is considering expanding his influence at the struggling French retailer. At the end of April, the investor already involved in Casino offered a capital increase of 1.1 billion euros via the company EP Global Commerce, which it controls. In Germany, Kretinsky is best known as a major shareholder in the retail group Metro.
More: How Aldi Nord wants to make a new start in France