Lactalis and its CEO Besnier summoned to appear before Laval magistrates' court
Dairy giant Lactalis and its CEO Emmanuel Besnier have received two summonses to appear. The financial stakes could amount to hundreds of millions of euros.
Lactalis before the courts: two summonses and a judicial counter-offensive
On 28 August, Lactalis and its CEO Emmanuel Besnier received two summonses to appear before the magistrates' court in Laval, according to linforme.com. The first summons came from employees of the dairy group. The matter highlights a legal stand-off with significant financial implications for the world's leading dairy products company, whose turnover exceeds €30 billion, with brands such as Président, Lactel and Galbani.
A leading barrister in reinforcement
In response to this legal offensive, Lactalis changed strategy. The company recruited Olivier Baratelli, a lawyer known for his handling of sensitive cases. Baratelli notably defended Vincent Bolloré in the corruption case in Togo, Rachida Dati, Jean-Charles Naouri—former CEO of Casino—and the State of Morocco in the espionage case involving the Pegasus software and President Emmanuel Macron.
The lawyer quickly made his position clear. "My client has been too patient," he told linforme.com. "He has given me a mandate, in the name of the 90,000 employees of the group, to let nothing slip through anymore, particularly the scandalous destabilisation attempts of which the group is a victim, and to act henceforth systematically in court." Baratelli further described the collective action taken against Lactalis as "deceitful and slanderous manoeuvres aimed at destabilising the group and its employees, past and present".
The Renahy affair and the €475 million paid to the tax authorities
At the heart of the conflict are the Renahy brothers. Maxime Renahy, a whistleblower and former financial analyst, is co-founder of the association "Justice for our bonuses", which aims to unite employees and former employees of Lactalis to attempt to recover employee profit-sharing sums. At the end of 2024, following notably his work, the dairy group paid €475 million to the French tax authorities through a settlement agreement, intended to "close a dispute concerning international financing transactions".
This settlement targeted suspicions of tax evasion through foreign subsidiaries, which allegedly understated profits declared in France. The National Financial Prosecutor's Office is continuing a preliminary investigation into "money laundering in an organised gang for aggravated tax fraud and aggravated tax fraud".
Lactalis counter-attack: complaint for malicious denunciation
According to linforme.com, Lactalis did not merely strengthen its defence. The manufacturer is said to have already filed a complaint for malicious denunciation and made a report to the National Financial Prosecutor's Office. The public authorities were also allegedly alerted to what the company considers an attempted extortion. Other legal actions are reportedly being drafted.
Lawyer Renaud Portejoie, who represents the employees engaged in the proceedings as well as the Renahy brothers, emphasises the scale of the stakes. "This is an exceptional trial, because it is rare for employees to dare to attack their employer," he states. "If there is a criminal conviction, the order of magnitude of the financial consequences for the group will be several hundred million euros."
A second strand: accounts deemed unreliable
A second, more recent, summons originates from a different proceeding. In early year, the Renahy brothers had demanded that Lactalis publish its consolidated accounts, which the group had not been doing until then. Under threat of a daily penalty of €200,000 demanded by the claimants, and facing the risk of losing the case before the Paris tribunal for economic activities, Lactalis finally complied on 19 March, one day before the hearing scheduled on this subject. The proceedings then stopped there.
But the Renahy brothers contest this outcome. Their central argument: the 2024 accounts filed do not include the €475 million paid the same year as part of the settlement agreement with the tax authorities. "This failure to correct makes the accounts unreliable, and even false because this approach is deliberate," argues Master Portejoie. In law, this manoeuvre is what is called fraud on the court.
The lawyer is claiming the amount of the penalty initially requested, namely €200,000 per day. "If Lactalis had not produced this forgery, it would have been ordered to pay a penalty that is still running, namely more than €30 million to date," he argues.
First hearing on 5 November
A first hearing, of a purely technical nature, is scheduled for 5 November. The two summonses, which target both the company and its director Emmanuel Besnier, could entail heavy media and financial repercussions for the Normandy-based group, whose discretion is nevertheless legendary.
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)