Paris prosecutors investigate Swiss lawyer over misappropriation of Hermes shares

Paris prosecutors investigate Swiss lawyer over misappropriation of #Hermes shares for benefit of LVMH

Exclusive-Paris prosecutors investigate Swiss lawyer over misappropriation of #Hermes shares for benefit of LVMH
says REUTERS
PARIS, May 28 (Reuters) - French prosecutors said on Thursday they had placed Swiss lawyer under formal investigation for his alleged role over a decade ago in the ‌misappropriation of millions of Hermes shares for the benefit of LVMH.
Placing a suspect under formal investigation is ‌a step in the French legal system indicating there is serious evidence against a suspect, but that does not imply guilt.

The Paris public ​prosecutor's office said in a written statement emailed to Reuters.
Market ‌watchdog AMF has previously said Dilico was ⁠used to transfer Hermes shares to banks affiliated with LVMH.
The procedural step shows Paris investigators are actively looking into the circumstances under which LVMH built up its position in ⁠rival Hermes, a move LVMH first disclosed in 2010, setting off a years-long corporate feud between the two luxury giants.

Hermes heir, 83, has sued Bernard Arnault and his LVMH group, among other parties, in a civil case claiming he was deprived of Hermes shares now worth more than €10 billion.
France's market watchdog fined LVMH €8 million in 2013 for failing to ‌properly disclose its stake-building in Hermes, which LVMH at the ​time called "baseless". Hermes, one of the world's most valuable ​luxury brands and a direct rival to LVMH's top brand Louis Vuitton.
Hermes heir, once among Hermes' ‌largest individual shareholders, claimed in a rare interview ​with French magazine L'Express last ​year that he had unwittingly lost control of his massive stake.
\