Meet Jean-François Bohnert: National Financial Prosecutor
The intruder of the news gives each evening a spotlight on a personality who could have passed under the radar of the news.
The PNF, national financial prosecutor’s office was born at the end of 2013 in the wake of the Cahuzac affair, the former budget minister of François Hollande who had a hidden account abroad. Since then, it has become the main weapon of the new anti-fraud arsenal with the High Authority for the transparency of public life and the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption. Much has been said about the Fillon or Sarkozy cases, but the various anti-fraud or anti-corruption actions have made it possible to bring a total of 12 billion euros into the state coffers. And the tax trick, which is worth the five banks the searches of the day, could represent more than a billion euros stolen from the FISC.
The general public knows little about the pilot of this PNF. Jean-François Bohnert is 61 years old, he is Alsatian, perfectly trilingual, French, English, German. Trained at the National School for the Judiciary, he started in 1987 as a deputy prosecutor at the Strasbourg court, but very quickly branched off towards a European career. In 1993, he was 31 years old: he was seconded to Germany with the Ministry of Defense where he was an examining magistrate at the French armed forces court. In 1998, it was for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that he became the first French “liaison magistrate” responsible for improving judicial cooperation with Germany. In 2003: he moved to The Hague where he became number two of Eurojust, the European organization for cooperation in the field of justice.
The Reproaches of Several Magistrates
He ended up returning to France in 2007, with various positions: in Dijon as deputy prosecutor at the tribunal de grande instance, in Bourges as general counsel at the court of appeal, then in Rouen as a prosecutor for three years and finally general prosecutor at the tribunal of Reims. Thanks to his European background, Jean-François Bonhert is on the verge of becoming the first European anti-fraud prosecutor, a position that will ultimately go to a Romanian. It was at this point that his name stood out, as a “consolation prize” some would say, to take the helm of the PNF in 2019, where he succeeded Eliane Houlette. The man is described as jovial, rather plump but not very brave. Several magistrates clearly reproach him for only acting when he can no longer do otherwise.
Last year, however, it was he who launched the investigation into the links between the top of the state and the McKinsey firm. But precisely, he was reproached for having delayed. In 2017, the PNF had launched the investigation into the fictitious employment of Penelope Fillon in 24 hours after an article in Le Canard enchainé. There, two weeks passed between the report of the Senate committee and the decision of the PNF to dig into the charges of aggravated money laundering of tax evasion which targeted the American consulting firm. Moreover, he only made it public a week later, which, again, he was accused of in this file which potentially concerned the campaign accounts of Emmanuel Macron.
Convictions at “Very Serious Levels” to The Credit of The PNF
What assessment does he draw today of the action of the PNF, sometimes suspected of not being as tough with the powerful as with the small? The question was asked to him recently by a listener of France Inter in the 13 hours of Bruno Duvic. Here is what he replied: “Even recently we had two former ministers and a former political party leader convicted. These are proof of the progress. These are natural or legal persons who are condemned at very, very serious levels, whether it’s prison sentences or fines. It may be a bit of a harsh trial that we are being given, in any case it encourages me to do even better.”
Alain Griset, Emmanuel Macron’s former Minister Delegate for SMEs, was sentenced in January on appeal to a four-month suspended prison sentence for “incomplete or misleading” declaration of assets. Michel Mercier, Keeper of the Seals of Nicolas Sarkozy, a three-year suspended prison sentence for fictitious jobs granted to his wife and daughter. As for the former boss of the UDI, Jean-Christophe Lagarde, he was given a ten-month suspended prison sentence for having granted a fictitious job to his mother-in-law. The PNF is currently processing 700 files with a staff that will increase in September to 20 magistrates – and even 25 if we count the five specialized assistants.
This article is originally published on francetvinfo.fr
