New revelations from the newspaper Release in the “Orion Oil Affair”, this Friday, January 13, implicate a former French Prime Minister. According to the French daily, French customs suspect Manuel Valls’ entourage of having solicited the CEO of the oil group Orion Oil to finance his 2017 presidential campaign.
The name of Manuel Valls appeared in this investigation, according to Release, in November 2016. Five months before the presidential election in France, François Hollande, the outgoing president, has not yet indicated whether he is running for re-election or not. The Socialist Party, to which the President and his Prime Minister Manuel Valls belong, has therefore not yet chosen its candidate.
At the same time, the Canadian-Congolese businessman, Lucien Ebata, CEO of Orion Oil, was staying in France and meeting several French personalities in a hotel in the capital. On November 22, he talks about one of his appointments with his wife, by telephone.
Lucien Ebata does not know that he is being tapped and, even if he uses code names in Lingala, one of the languages spoken in Congo, the judicial customs who analyze the conversation will understand that it is a question of potential financing. of an electoral campaign, that of Manuel Valls.
Ismaël Halissat, journalist for Releasewas able to consult the translated transcript of the tapping: “ In this first conversation, they discuss in veiled words, they are quite cautious. Lucien Ebata says: “the Badibanga of France ». Samy Badibanga was then the Prime Minister of the DRC. But in a subsequent conversation, on December 5, the day Manuel Valls’ candidacy was announced, he is referred to directly by name. During this conversation, Lucien Ebata is also much clearer: he says that it is from him that the funds will come from to win. »
► To re-read: Congo-Brazzaville: the company Orion Oil at the heart of an investigation in France
Contacted by ReleaseManuel Valls denies having asked Lucien Ebata to finance his campaign
Asked by Release on the content of these tappings, Manuel Valls mentions ” fanciful statements “. ” I don’t think I know Mr. Lucien Ebata. Who is he talking about? No one in my entourage was able to solicit him for “hidden financing”, which was otherwise useless and illegal. It does not mean anything […] It’s against all my principles. The primary campaign lasted just a few weeks “.
But the current investigation reveals that a close friend of the former Prime Minister would have played this role for him. It could be, depending on Release, from the communicator Stéphane Fouks. He is the vice-president of the Havas group, owned by French billionaire Vincent Bolloré.
Stéphane Fouks denies having taken such a step
Stéphane Fouks’ mission is to advise politicians and businessmen on their media strategy. It was he, for example, who advised former budget minister Jérôme Cahuzac, when he was accused in 2013 of tax evasion. He was also the one who advised Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former director of the IMF, when he was accused of rape. And it is he who, according to the revelations of Releasehad an appointment with Lucien Ebata to, obviously, ask him for money to prepare the Manuel Valls campaign.
At first, his name did not surprise the authorities who are investigating, because Stéphane Fouks is in a business relationship with Mr. Ebata. According to journalists from Releasewe found traces of payments amounting to several million euros between Havas and Orion Oil on the occasion, for example, of the organization of the Forbes Africa forum.
Contacted by ReleaseStéphane Fouks denies having taken such a step: “ I have never, and in no way, solicited Mr. Ebata for Manuel Valls’ campaign. I was never aware of the conversation between Mr. Ebata and his wife […] I met Mr. Ebata two to three times a year to take stock of our files. We talked about the development of Forbes and the negotiation with the IMF”.
Do the investigators have proof that Manuel Valls received money from Lucien Ebata for his campaign?
No not right now. However, Lucien Ebata was obviously able to bring a lot of cash to France, according to the revelations of our colleagues from Release. Several million euros in cash would have transited in the suitcases of the businessman. But no concrete trace, at this stage of the investigation, of a payment between the CEO of Orion Oil and the former French Prime Minister.
For his part, the lawyer for the owner of Orion, Maître Antoine Vey affirms that Mr. Ebata ” never financed in one way or another the campaign of Manuel Valls and, according to Release, he denies having been approached about it.
► To re-read: Congolese businessman Lucien Ebata indicted in Paris