Affaire Kerviel : an elected green attack the gift tax to the Société générale – Le Figaro

The spokesman of the party Europe Ecology The Greens, Julien Bayou, has filed a complaint against Christine Lagarde and Eric Woerth, the former ministers who have awarded two billion euros of tax credit in 2008 to the bank.

While the government could request a refund of the gift tax granted to the Society in general, the regional councillor of Ile-de-France Julien Bayou (EELV) on Saturday announced filing a complaint against the former ministers, Christine Lagarde and Eric Woerth. In 2008, they were awarded two billion euros of tax credit at the bank after the affair Kerviel.

Christine Lagarde, minister of Economy from 2007 to 2011, and Eric Woerth, his counterpart in the Budget (2007-2010), “accountability for the deficiencies, neglect, and faults subject of the offence of misappropriation of public funds”, writes in a press release the elected ecologist, known for his support of Jérôme Kerviel, referring to the AFP a “hold-up tax”.

The offense of bribery is the fact that “a person agent of public authority (…) to grant in any form and for any reason whatsoever, an exemption or the payment of duties, contributions, taxes or charges to the public” in violation of the law.

The Société générale has received 2,197 billion euros from the State in 2009 and 2010, under a tax regime granted to loss-making enterprises and to victims of fraud. This tax credit has helped offset in part the colossal loss of 4.9 billion euros allocated by the bank to the fraudulent transactions of its former trader, Jerome Kerviel.

But the 23 September, the court of appeal of Versailles had put forward the responsibility of the banking group in this case, believing “that such a prejudice could not have been achieved without the eminently deficient in (its) systems of control”.

In the aftermath, Bercy had announced the review of the tax situation of the bank. “If there is a responsibility or a share of the responsibility, it changes the doctrine to tax” in respect of deductibility of losses, had warned the minister of Economy and Finance, Michel Sapin. The department should make its decision within a few days.

“This sum would not in any case ever had to be paid before the justice makes a ruling,” said Julien Bayou, who has also committed an administrative procedure so that the tax documents related to this litigation are released to the public.

For his part, Frédéric Oudéa, boss of Société Générale, said Thursday, “quite serene on this subject”, during the presentation of the results of the bank, to the press.