A Paris court has found Bernard Squarcini, former head of France’s domestic security services, guilty of misusing public resources to benefit luxury giant LVMH. Squarcini, who led the agency from 2008 to 2012 before being hired as a security consultant by LVMH, was sentenced to two years of house arrest with an electronic bracelet, plus a two-year suspended sentence and a €200,000 fine. His conviction stems from using state resources to track down blackmailers targeting LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault in 2008 and aiding in the illegal surveillance of French lawmaker François Ruffin and his team in 2013.

The court found that Squarcini had ordered security agents to monitor a cyber café in Aix-en-Provence to identify a suspect sending extortion emails to Arnault, justifying the act as protecting French economic interests. He was also complicit in the surveillance of Ruffin and members of his left-wing publication Fakir, who planned to disrupt an LVMH shareholder meeting and were producing the satirical documentary Merci Patron. The film, which won the French César Award for Best Documentary in 2017, highlighted the struggles of workers affected by LVMH’s business practices.

While LVMH settled a criminal probe into the case in 2021 with a €10 million payment without admitting guilt, the company declined to comment on the latest ruling. Bernard Arnault told the court he was unaware of the illegal surveillance, which he said had been arranged by a close associate who passed away in 2018. Ruffin’s lawyer welcomed the verdict but expressed disappointment that Arnault himself was not among the defendants. Squarcini’s legal team announced plans to appeal the decision.

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