The chief prosecutor for financial crimes announced on Monday that the senior official in the office of French President Emmanuel Macron has been accused of having a conflict of interest.
The action against Alexis Kohler came hours after another Macron ally, Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti, was ordered to stand trial in a different case, also over a conflict of interest. Kohler is the secretary-general of the Elysee, one of France’s most prominent positions.
According to a statement from the prosecutor, Jean-Francois Bohnert, Kohler is being charged due to his personal and professional ties to the Italian-Swiss shipping corporation Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), which is run by his mother’s cousins.
On Monday, Kohler ‘categorically denied any misconduct,’ according to his attorney, who was contradicted by a Macron office official who said Kohler was still in his position.
A formal complaint was made against Kohler for improper influence-peddling in relation to contracts given to MSC in 2010 and 2011 by Anticor, an anti-corruption NGO, in 2018.
Kohler allegedly hid his ties to MSC from the French public investment agency where he was employed at the time.
The matter was dropped the following year, but Anticor filed a civil lawsuit in 2020, which ordinarily invites an investigation from an investigating magistrate.
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