The Paris prosecutor’s office announced on Thursday that it had opened a formal investigation into Swiss lawyer Alexandre Montavon for his alleged role, more than a decade ago, in the misappropriation of millions of Hermès shares for the benefit of LVMH.
The Paris prosecutor’s office stated in an email sent to Reuters on Thursday that Mr. Montavon was suspected of having “participated in the misappropriation of Nicolas Puech’s Hermès shares for the benefit of LVMH.”
Prosecutors indicated, without providing further details, that they suspected Mr. Montavon of having taken part in this scheme due to his role as a lawyer and director of an offshore company named Dilico.
The French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) had previously indicated that Dilico had been used to transfer Hermès shares to banks affiliated with LVMH.
This stage of the proceedings shows that Parisian investigators are actively examining the circumstances under which LVMH strengthened its position at rival Hermès, a move that LVMH first disclosed in 2010, sparking a corporate feud that lasted several years between the two luxury giants.
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