Laporte in police custody: Rives and Charvet have heard it’s a multi-million euro deal

They were two other men taken into custody on Tuesday. Former France XV captain Jean-Pierre Reeve and fellow ex-international rugby player Denis Charvet have been heard by Financial Judicial Investigation Service (SEJF) investigators, Rugbyrama reported on Tuesday. The latter is responsible for investigations launched in August 2020 by the National Financial Attorney’s Office (NFP) on suspicions of money laundering and aggravated tax fraud. The file, which also saw French Rugby President Bernard Laporte questioned by police on Tuesday, is currently being recalled.

Released at large and without prosecution at this stage at the end of the day, the three men are partners in CLR Holding, whose name takes the first letter of each of their last names. According to France Info, the flow of five million euros into the company’s accounts in 2010 attracted the attention of Bercy’s anti-money laundering agency, Tracfin. The latter then warned the prosecutor’s office about this amount, which was not declared to the tax authorities.

Where did the money go?

The SEJF is trying to determine whether the money coming from a relative of a member of the troika is a gift or a tax-free loan. And also seeks to find out where this amount was invested by the holding. “Investigators are trying to verify the origin of this donation of around 3 million euros., speaks for its part to L’Equipe I’m Griner, Denis Charvet’s lawyer. What if Mr. Charve knew about this donation that saved the company?. »

“This would be a donation made over 12 years ago to a former rugby player, friend and collaborator of Bernard Laporte, a donation that would not have been regularly declared to the tax authorities,” Thierry Nesa, a tax lawyer, explained in a press release Tuesday. for Bernard Laporte. It is established that Bernard Laporte did not receive any amount and participates only as a partner. Master Thierry Nesat confirms that this private file cannot affect either the French Rugby Federation or rugby in general. »

Sentenced in December to a two-year suspended sentence in a corruption case, Bernard Laporte was forced to resign as president of the FFR under pressure from the Sports Ministry. From Monday to Thursday, clubs decide whether to appoint Patrick Buisson, their vice president in charge of amateur rugby, as deputy president.