Italian multimillionaire Nicola Bulgari, former director of the Bulgari jewelry house belonging to the LVMH group, was fined 1.2 million euros and his company Tara 5.5 million euros in Paris on Tuesday for stock market transactions related to the luxury giant in 2016.
The verdict, negotiated as part of a preliminary plea deal with the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF), also sees a nine-month suspended sentence for Mr Bulgari, who was convicted of the “insider’s” offence.
These judgments were confirmed by a judge of the Paris court.
Mr. Bulgari, 82, admitted to engaging in purchase and resale transactions of LVMH securities based on information he received on July 5, 2016 about the luxury giant’s growth.
Between July 12 and July 18, 2016, Mr. Bulgari acquired 20,000 LVMH shares in three transactions through two financial firms, JP Morgan and Banca Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL).
Traditional finance and real estate company Tara bought 82,600 shares in eight operations between July 6 and 15.
All securities were sold on July 27, 2016. The day before, LVMH had announced strong growth, which caused the stock market to rise.
The former jeweler was able to realize a capital gain of 292,400 euros and his company 1.4 million euros.
LVMH, the world’s leading luxury manufacturer, has more than 75 brands including Bulgari, which was acquired by brothers Paolo and Nicola Bulgari in 2011. At the material time, the two brothers were no longer on the board.
“I’m 82 years old, I have very little memory” and “I don’t remember the people who suggested this to me,” he replied, annoyed, to insistent questions from a French judge to find out how he had managed the Information about the announcement of a sales increase by LVMH.
“I appreciate what I did, I feel guilty,” he finally interjected, seemingly wanting to put an end to the questions and make sure the verdict would be approved. In doing so, he avoids a hearing before the criminal court.
The investigation did not make it possible to establish who had informed Mr Bulgari about LVMH’s rising results.