Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was found guilty, on Thursday, of illegally financing his 2012 election campaign.
The 66-year-old former president who denied any wrongdoing wasn’t present at the Paris court for the verdict’s announcement.
The former French president was accused of having spent about EUR22.5 million, almost twice the maximum legal amount, in his 2012 reelection campaign, which he lost to Socialist Francois Hollande.
The court believes that Sarkozy “knew” weeks before the ballot that his expenses, which are strictly limited under French law, were getting close to the legal maximum, and “voluntarily” failed to supervise additional expenses.
He is not accused of being part of the system of false invoices at the heart of the fraud, but prosecutors argued Sarkozy is “the only person responsible for his campaign financing” and that he chose to exceed the limit by organizing numerous rallies.
A year’s imprisonment, including six months suspended, was requested against him, as well as a fine of 3,750 Euros.
13 other people went on trial, with Nicolas Sarkozy, including members of his conservative Republicans party, accountants and heads of the communication group in charge of organizing the rallies, Bygmalion.
They face charges including forgery, breach of trust, fraud and complicity in illegal campaign financing.
Some have acknowledged wrongdoing and detailed the system of false invoices that aimed to cover up the overspending.
Prosecutors have requested mostly suspended prison sentences, and up to one year in prison for Bygmalion’s co-founder. Bygmalion is the communication agency that was in charge of organizing Sarkozy’s campaign.
The 2012 election case was known also as Bygmalion affair since Sarkozy’s party would have tried through a system of false invoices with the Bygmalion communication agency to hide the overruns of campaign costs of Nicolas Sarkozy in the French presidential election of 2012. The scandal was first brought to light by French newspapers before getting investigated by the French court.
The verdict comes six months after he was found guilty of corruption and influence-peddling in another case and sentenced to one year in prison and two years suspended becoming the first former French president to be handed out a prison term that includes time with no remission.
Sarkozy, France’s president from 2007 to 2012, has vigorously denied wrongdoing during the trial in May and June. He can appeal the decision.
The former French leader is also being investigated over accusations he took money from former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to fund his successful 2007 presidential campaign and for influence-peddling in case relating to his advisory activities in Russia. The influence-peddling case aims to determine whether he “engaged in potentially criminal lobbying activities” on behalf of Russian oligarchs.
Sarkozy retired from active politics in 2017, but is still playing a role behind the scenes as French media have reported that he is involved in the process of choosing a conservative candidate ahead of France’s presidential election next year.
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