PARIS, March 19 (Reuters) – French billionaire Vincent Bollore is set to face trial on corruption and embezzlement charges related to election campaigns in Togo and Guinea in 2009, 2010 and 2011, the French financial prosecutor’s spokesperson said on Thursday.
Bollore is suspected of having bribed foreign officials in Puteaux, a Paris suburb, during the election campaign of presidents Faure Gnassingbe in Togo and Alpha Conde in Guinea, the spokesperson said.
The French tycoon had been placed under formal investigation in 2018 over allegations his company undercharged for work on behalf of presidential candidates in Guinea and Togo in return for port contracts.
Conglomerate Bollore Group, which is controlled and run by the billionaire’s family, used to own logistics assets in Africa but sold them to shipping company MSC Group in 2022.
Bollore and his family also own significant stakes in listed companies such as Vivendi and Havas.
Two other persons are co-defendant in the corruption cases, the prosecutor said, Gilles Alix, who used to be board member of Vivendi, and Jean-Philippe Dorent, who is currently head of Havas International Consulting.
Representatives for Bollore and his lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Inti Landauro and Gianluca Lo Nostro;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
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