by Hervé Lalau
Although the press in France remains strangely quiet about the whole affair, the four persons directly involved in the scandal at Rieux, in which large quantities of table wine were being sold as more noble appellations, have all been sentenced to prison.
Now, in addition to two years on former judgements that had been up for parole, Jean Rieux has been sent to jail for a further year. His director Bernard Codina and financial executive Elie Lecha were each sentenced to two years, with one year on parole. Neither may ever again work for a wine trading company.
Serge Sanchez, president of the cooperative group Plein Sud, which is connected with Rieux as a trading agency, was also sentenced to six months in jail. The only person paroled is Nicolas Beille, who only made the papers fit . All five have been fined and Rieux as an entity will be strictly supervised for the next two years. Interestingly, the newly designated directors, who were to replace the old management, have already resigned. Some claim that they were frightened by what they saw at Rieux; others that they we coerced by friends of the retired directorate not to take their seats.
The sentence is harsh, Rieux is quoted by the local press as saying, and I have 30,000 vintners behind me, many of which have yet to be paid. That he does. The trade unions originally prevented the inspectors from the French Repression des Fraudes from gaining access to the firm when they wanted to inspect it. The state eventually had to call in the police and even then there were clashes.
Rieux may still appeal the sentence. In March 2007 the company will face more trouble still: at civil court the compensation for former business partners will be negotiated.
