The company DG Raspail Conseil was fined 81,000 euros for handling favouritism during a plea bargain hearing held on Tuesday at the Paris judicial court. This sentence was negotiated with the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) under a procedure of prior recognition of guilt (CRPC) and approved by a judge.
A fine of 20% of the disputed contract
The fine is equal to 20% of the disputed contract and is accompanied by a three-year suspended exclusion from public contracts, as well as the absence of this conviction from the company’s criminal record. In 2010, DG Raspail Conseil entered into a consulting agreement with EDF that was extended until 2012 for a total amount of 405,000 euros, without competition or advertising.
In 2016, the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) opened an investigation and identified disputed contracts between EDF and 41 consultants between 2010 and 2016. The Court of Auditors had also pointed out to the courts the existence within EDF of “negotiations for private consulting contracts without competitive bidding”, which were not covered by the exemptions provided for by French and Community law.
The company “assumed” its conviction
The company’s co-manager admitted her lack of knowledge of public procurement regulations. “We were really a small company facing a behemoth” and “it was the first big contract of the company”, whose turnover amounts to about 300 000 euros, she explained. In defense, the company’s lawyer considered that “it is a formal offence. It is a nightmare for the company, but it assumes it”, underlining “the total good faith of (his) clients”.
This is the second plea bargaining procedure (CRPC) related to this investigation. In January, the founder of the Havas communications company, Stéphane Fouks, was fined 165,500 euros and suspended for three years from public contracts.
The PNF must decide whether or not to hold a trial
The financial prosecutor’s office will soon decide whether or not to hold a trial for favoritism concerning EDF, its former CEO Henri Proglio, and a former secretary general, and for receiving favoritism concerning some twenty consultants. Prosecutions should be dropped for another 20 consultants whose contracts were under 400,000 euros.
