The company agreed to pay 12 million euros ($14.5 million) as part of the deal with financial crime prosecutors which was accepted by the court on Friday.
The case goes back more than a decade, when Bolloré, a conglomerate dealing in transport, energy and logistics, allegedly undercharged the Togo government for consultancy work in return for a contract to manage the port of Lomé between 2009 and 2011.
It also used a similar strategy with the Guinea government to take over the management of the port of Conakry.
The case triggered an investigation for corruption of foreign officials, breach of trust and complicity in breach of trust.
Chairman Vincent Bolloré, a billionaire tycoon, and two other senior company executives, Gilles Alix and Jean-Philippe Dorent, had negotiated a separate plea deal with prosecutors to have proceedings against them personally dropped in the case, in return for a fine of 375,000 euros ($455,000) and a recognition of guilt.
France court punishes French group Bolloré €12m for corruption in Togo
— Jean-Michel Glachant (@JMGlachant) February 26, 2021
For €370,000 communication expenses favoring Togo President campaign
And hiring his brother for €8,500 a month
In exchange of port franchisehttps://t.co/8K2RkJULE9
But although Bolloré and the two others admitted wrongdoing in court Friday, the presiding judge rejected their part of the agreement, saying the corruption allegations against them were too serious to be allowed to go away.
The fines "suggested by the prosecutor and accepted by the three accused" were too lenient, the judge said, given that their actions had "seriously harmed the public economic order" as well as Togo's sovereignty.
Instead, the judge recommended that the three should stand trial under criminal charges.
A decision whether such a trial will actually take place is now up to an investigating magistrate.
(AFP)
