Indicted for “illegal taking of interest” at the end of September, the secretary general of the Elysée is suspected of having participated as a senior official between 2009 and 2016 in decisions relating to the Italian-Swiss shipowner MSC, directed by his mother’s cousins.
This possible conflict of interest was revealed by Mediapart in May 2018. After a year of investigation at the PNF closed without further action, the Anticor association obtained the appointment of investigating judges in June 2020. In this rich investigation of more than fifty hearings and ten searches, Alexis Kohler was questioned on September 22 and 23, according to elements of his interrogation of which AFP became aware on Tuesday.
Judges Virginie Tilmont and Nicolas Aubertin accuse him of having ” participated » from 2009 to 2012, as director, to five deliberations of the bodies of STX France (today Chantiers de l’Atlantique) and three of the Grand Port Maritime du Havre (GPMH), linked to MSC. Then between 2012 and 2016 in Bercy, under Pierre Moscovici then Emmanuel Macron, to have in particular ” persisted (…) in issuing opinions or giving strategic orientations relating to to cases involving MSC. A potential offense, because the mother of Alexis Kohler is a cousin of Rafaëla Aponte, wife of the founder Gianluigi Aponte. A family bond simple ” but to ” 5th degree », « distant “, for the person concerned.
Alexis Kohler also recognizes a ” sincere friendship between his wife and Rafaela Aponte, with annual stays by Sylvie Kohler or their children from 2009 to 2013, but also in 2019, on MSC yachts, often with members of the Aponte clan. For the judges, this ” moral interest ” may ” compromise the impartiality, independence or objectivity by Alexis Kohler.
Alexis Kohler claims not to have participated in any decision
Before the magistrates, the secretary general of the Élysée indicated from the outset that he had ” never considered to be in a conflict of interest situation “. But paradoxically, he hammers having done everything, “ from November 2008 to be away from the MSC folder. He explains that he did not participate in any decision concerning this flagship client of STX; having warned of his family ties and asked to leave his mandate as administrator of STX, which his hierarchy would have refused; having expressed the state’s position rather than his own in the board of directors.
► Also to listen: Kohler case: “The Elysée will not be able to remain silent”
When he was at Bercy, he says he organized a deportation of the MSC file ” informal » with Pierre Moscovici (2012-2014) then via « a letter with Emmanuel Macron (2014-2016). The magistrates indicate that they have not found “ no writing or note from the Agence des participations de l’Etat, du Trésor or the ministry mentioning the family link with the Aponte family or organizing this sidelining of the MSC file between 2010 and 2016.
Emmanuel Macron has decided to cover all those who, in his government, continue, from conflicts of interest to illegal taking of interests, to act alongside him.
In Parliament, the opposition is indignant at the Kohler affair
At the end of the fifteen hours of interrogation, Alexis Kohler concedes a ” debate on (his) degree of formalism » to warn of his deportation from the MSC files, but nevertheless says to himself « shocked and indignant ” of the ” questioned ” of his “ integrity “. He is indicted for “ illegal taking of interest », and assisted witness for « passive influence peddling “.
(With AFP)