Pascaline Bongo, eldest daughter of former president Omar Bongo Ondimba, will be tried in early 2024 in Paris with the company Egis Route, a subsidiary of the French construction group Egis, and five other people for suspicion of corruption linked to public contracts in Gabon in 2010 and 2011, we learned on Friday October 6 from a judicial source. This trial, revealed by the daily Libération on Thursday, will be held from January 29 to February 1, 2024.
Pascaline Bongo, who was her father’s chief of staff until his death in 2009, then worked with her brother, the deposed president Ali Bongo, is suspected of having agreed to intervene in favor of Egis Route for the award of public contracts against the promise of 8 million euros. She will be tried for “passive bribery of a foreign public official”.
Pascaline Bongo, who disputes the facts, “has not been in contact with anyone, there is no signed contract and nothing in the file allows us to say that there was a transfer of money”, said his lawyer, Corinne Dreyfus-Schmidt, told AFP. “Nothing is wrong in the case, in the procedure and in the criminal qualifications,” she added.
“Fictitious partnership”
According to Libération, Pascaline Bongo, 67, had accepted a “fictitious partnership” so that Egis would participate in the creation of the National Agency for Major Works of Gabon via a public consulting contract. This structure, created by Ali Bongo after coming to power, supervised major infrastructure projects such as roads, stadiums and public real estate projects.
Also announced on the dock, the company Egis Route, two of its former executives and the current commercial director, Christian Laugier, formerly in charge of Africa activities and general director of the group. These three men are suspected of having offered Pascaline Bongo a kickback of 8 million euros in exchange for a contract.
“We reserve our explanations for the hearing, but we can already indicate that we contest the facts of corruption with the greatest firmness,” reacted to AFP the French group specializing in road construction and infrastructure in the world.