In France, former Green MP Hubert Julien-Laferrière is under investigation for passive corruption in an organized gang and influence peddling. Investigators are interested in interventions by the former parliamentarian praising the virtues of LimoCoin, a cryptocurrency created by a Cameroonian entrepreneur, but also in other cases of suspected foreign interference in French politics and current affairs.
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It is a sprawling affair. The key man in this operation is a lobbyist, Jean-Pierre Duthion. Indicted in the same case, he is suspected in particular of having paid the former BFMTV journalist Rachid M’Barki for having disseminated false information.
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Also in the lobbyist’s address book, Hubert Julien-Laferrière, a deputy of the presidential majority who moved to Génération écologie. In 2022, at Duthion’s request, the former parliamentarian praises the merits of an obscure Cameroonian businessman. His name: Émile Parfait Simb. The man is presented as the developer of LimoCoin, an alternative currency that will help eradicate poverty in Africa.
Read alsoFinancial scams: Émile Parfait Simb, the Cameroonian Madoff?
Corruption and influence peddling
Hubert Julien-Laferrière, for his part, proposed that France support this initiative. On the web, there was applause. In fact, the offer turned out to be a scam.
According to information from the Worldthe former parliamentarian is said to have intervened on numerous occasions in the service of foreign interests, notably involving Benin and Qatar. He is said to have received large sums of money in exchange for his interventions.
The former MP for the 2nd constituency of the Rhône, aged 58, has since been questioned for two days under police custody, then presented to an investigating magistrate who charged him and placed him under judicial supervision. The former parliamentarian, former vice-president of Greater Lyon, was first elected as an MP in 2017 under the colours of the majority, before joining the environmentalists until 2024.
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