French prosecutors demand imprisonment for the former president of the casino company on corruption charges policy

Public prosecutors in France requested a three-year suspended prison sentence, in addition to a year of house arrest, for the former CEO of the French Casino Group, Jean-Charles Naoury, in a trial session in which the group is accused of price manipulation and corruption.

The Public Prosecution also demanded the imposition of a fine of two million euros (about 2.3 million dollars) on Nauri, and another of 75 million euros on the Casino Group itself.

The prosecution accuses Nauri – who is being tried on charges of organized market manipulation and corruption – of paying money between 2018 and 2019 to publish media materials defending the Casino Group, in an attempt to raise its share price, which collapsed in 2018 due to concerns about its indebtedness.

For his part, the former director of the group denied the charges against him, while his lawyers were unable to immediately comment on the prosecution requests that were submitted last Thursday evening.

In this context, the Casino Group said – in a statement – that the prosecution’s requests are not a ruling and are not binding on the court, and the final ruling is expected to be issued on October 22.

The group – which launched a radical restructuring plan – said that the prosecution’s requests do not take into account that the new Casino Group is completely different in terms of size, financial situation and management from the one that was under Naori’s leadership, indicating that its lawyers will request complete acquittal of the charges against it.

It is noteworthy that the Casino Group owns Monoprix, Franprix, and Naturalia stores, and in 2024 it sold a total of 336 stores, and plans to eliminate 3,200 jobs.