Criminal defence of executives, managers, companies and public decision-makers, whether accused or victims, in cases of economic and financial crime: fraud, misuse of corporate assets, breach of trust, money laundering, corruption and breaches of probity, and crypto-asset fraud.
A white collar crime case usually exists before the person concerned learns of it. It begins with a report by the statutory auditor, a suspicious transaction report to Tracfin, an audit by the authorities, a complaint by a partner or a competitor, or a press article. By the time the summons, the search or the interview arrives, the investigation has already gathered its evidence. The defence is built from a case file that is ahead, and what is said in the first hours weighs on everything that follows.
One feature governs these cases: the company and its executive do not have the same interests, even when they are accused over the same facts. The legal entity may negotiate a judicial public interest agreement (CJIP) that extinguishes the prosecution against it; its legal representatives, however, remain liable as individuals (Article 41-1-2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). The company’s strategy and the executive’s strategy must be kept apart from the very first step.
The firm also acts alongside elected officials and public decision-makers in matters of breaches of probity, and before the specialised prosecution offices and courts: the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) and the specialised interregional courts (JIRS).
Cases are handled in French and in English.
A summons to a voluntary interview, a search at the head office or at home, police custody at dawn: this is how most executives learn that an investigation concerns them. This moment comes early, often before the accounting or financial analysis has delivered its conclusions. The chronology of the transactions is then rebuilt from statements, and what is said without preparation weighs on the rest of the case. The firm has published an analysis of the reflexes to adopt in police custody in economic and financial cases.
Depending on the amounts, the complexity and the international dimension of the facts, the case stays with the local prosecutor’s office, moves up to a specialised interregional court or falls to the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office. The office in charge determines the resources deployed and the pace of the investigation. The firm has published an analysis of the respective powers of these prosecution offices. In economic matters, criminal seizures take place from the investigation stage, on accounts, real estate and digital assets; challenging them is litigation in its own right.
No. It extinguishes the prosecution against the legal entity that enters into it. Its legal representatives remain liable as individuals, and the facts set out in the agreement may be used against them.
Yes. The provision targets the use of the company’s assets contrary to its interest, for personal purposes or to favour another company in which the executive has an interest. Personal enrichment is not an element of the offence.
Misdemeanours become time-barred six years after they were committed. For hidden or concealed offences, the time limit only runs from the day the offence came to light, subject to a maximum of twelve years (Article 9-1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). Money laundering is deemed hidden by law; concealed misuse of corporate assets is treated in the same way by the courts.
Yes. Filing a complaint as a civil party makes it possible to request criminal seizures from the investigation stage, including on crypto-assets, and to seek their return at the end of the proceedings.
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Email: mehdy@kadri-avocat.com
