Former Marionnaud CEO imprisoned for falsification

The sentence relates to the period between 2002 and 2003 when Marcel Frydman was CEO of the business, and also implicates his son Gerlad Frydman who was a director of the company during the period as well as the company's accounts director.

The convictions are the result of an enquiry launched in November 2005, following a report by the France-based Financial Markets Authority (AMF), which accused Marionnaud of cheating on its accounts.

Competition During the period 2002 - 2003, Marrionnaud was facing a period of stagnant performance which had been preceded by strong growth.

This was on account of strong growth by retail competitor Sephora, which had undertaken an aggressive expansion policy, resulting in additional pressures on the company's business model that ultimately affected its stock market performance.

To disguise the fact that Marionnaud's financial position had been weakened, Marcel Frydman was found guilty of falsely giving the accounts a boost to make the company's performance appear better than it was, according to a report by AFP.

False information Marcel Frydman was convicted by a Paris tribunal of 'spreading false information' and subsequently given an 18-month suspended prison sentence and fined €300,000 for 'deception, complicity to deceive and use of false information' at the hearing.

His son was fined €100,000 for his part in the dealings and was also given an 8-month suspended sentence in view of his role as director of finances in the company during the period in question.

Likewise, the former accounts director, Laurent Ferré, was condemned to a four months suspended sentence, without a fine.

The conviction is the second in the space of a year for Marcel Frydman, who was found guilty of the illegal re-sale of tester fragrance perfumes belonging to major fragrance producers in September of last year.