Geneva judiciary rejects lawsuit by Hermès heir
Published: Thursday, Jul 25th 2024, 16:30
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The Geneva judiciary has dropped the criminal proceedings initiated by the heir to the luxury brand Hermès against his former asset manager. The Hermès heir Nicolas Puech, who lives in Valais, accuses the asset manager of having defrauded him of part of his assets.
The former asset manager's Geneva-based lawyer, Stéphane Grodecki, confirmed reports by the Tribune de Genève and 24 Heures newspapers to the Keystone-SDA news agency on Thursday. According to the lawyer, he is now examining how to proceed in this matter, in particular with regard to a possible lawsuit for false accusations.
Puech had filed three criminal complaints between September and November 2023, mainly against his former asset manager. One of these complaints listed 14 different alleged criminal offenses, including dishonest management and forgery of documents. The 80-year-old put the loss at almost 12 billion francs. In May, the public prosecutor's office issued an order not to prosecute.
The Criminal Appeals Chamber of the Court of Justice dismissed Puech's appeal against this decision. In a ruling on July 12, the judges stated that the criminal complaint was "verbose" and "not very clear".
According to the judges, the complainant complains of "fraud on a grand scale", but does not provide any justification for the elements of the crime. The Hermès heir could not explain how he had been robbed of his shares. An appeal against the decision of the Geneva judiciary can still be lodged with the Federal Supreme Court.
©Keystone/SDA
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