The CDR has been seeking for years to recover the 403 million euros awarded to the businessman, who died on October 3, 2021 of cancer, during the arbitration aimed at settling his dispute with the former public bank.
This controversial sentence was annulled by civil justice in 2015 for “fraud”. A lengthy legal battle followed regarding the quantification of the debt and payment terms.
After a succession of recent operations, the CDR hopes to finally recover more than 320 million euros, an “unexpected” amount, according to a source familiar with the matter, who confirms information from Le Canard enchaîné this Wednesday.
At the beginning of July, La Mandala, a villa located in Saint-Tropez, was awarded to an American buyer in the company court of Liège, Belgium, for 81.2 million euros, while the minimum price was 65 million.
A debt of 600 million euros
The CDR should also be able to recover 81.2 million euros from the sale of 89% of La Provence, owned by Groupe Bernard Tapie (GBT), after the agreement announced this Tuesday between the shipowner CMA-CGM and Xavier Niel, who had been battling each other for months.
Added to this is the Hôtel de Cavoye in Paris, sold for around 80 million to the billionaire François Pinault; his furniture sold according to this source in early July for 4.5 million euros; a sum of 70 million euros that remains seized by the courts and the possible sale of a residence in Combs-la-ville.
The total would reimburse, says this source, “all the cash that the CDR disbursed for the arbitration”, that is, 305 million euros, the approximately 100 million euros remaining at that time corresponding to compensation with old SDBO accounts receivable. , a subsidiary of Crédit Lyonnais.
The full amount of the debt has always been vigorously disputed by the Tapie camp. During the criminal trial on appeal, the State and the CDRs had estimated it at more than 600 million, with interest.
In this criminal section, four men, including former Orange boss Stéphane Richard, were sentenced on November 24 by the Paris Court of Appeal, which ruled that the arbitration had been biased in favor of Bernard Tapie.
This procedure is not closed: the defendants have filed appeals. The hearing date has not yet been set.
Source: BFM TV
