PARIS: A Paris court found the former head of France’s domestic security services, Bernard Squarcini, guilty on Friday of using public resources to benefit LVMH, in a trial that shed light on efforts by the world’s biggest luxury group to protect its reputation.

Squarcini, 69, who headed France’s domestic security services from 2008 to 2012, was later hired by LVMH as a security consultant. The court gave him a two-year prison sentence that he can serve at home with an electronic bracelet and an additional two years suspended, and fined 200,000 euros. His lawyers said he would appeal against the verdict.

Part of Friday’s verdict was related to the use of public resources to locate blackmailers targeting LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault in 2008, while Squarcini was still head of the country’s security services.

That year, security agents staked out a cyber cafe in Aix-en-Provence to identify a suspect sending emails seeking to extort Arnault, as part of a mission defended as protecting French economic interests.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2025