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p2pnet news view | Crime:- Canadian Warner Music boss Edgar Bronfman jr (right) and Jean-Marie Messier, aka J6M, the man who once ran France’s Vivendi Universal, are in trouble again.

They were under suspicion in an insider trading scandal which once rocked France.

“Vivendi … staggered back from bankruptcy after ex-chairman Jean-Marie Messier’s spending excesses brought it close to ruin,” said a 2004 p2pnet story, going on:

“At one point, French prosecutors were examining whether or not Vivendi deliberately misled investors while it was being run by Messier, who himself faced possible class-actions in the US.

“It was also under criminal investigation in the US.”

Now, they’ve both been ordered to stand trial in France on charges dating back eight years,  says the Financial Times, going on this overrules an earlier finding by the Paris prosecutor that there was no case to answer.

“The investigation centres on allegations of market manipulation, distributing false information, and misuse of corporate funds during a period of daring acquisitions masterminded by Mr Messier, then chief executive, to turn Vivendi into a global media giant,” it says, continuing »»»

The $100bn of acquisitions pushed it close to bankruptcy, and Mr Messier, who now heads Messier and Partners, a mergers advisory firm based in New York, left the company in 2002.

Vivendi bought Seagram, the drinks and media group, in 2000 in a deal that made the Bronfman family the French company’s largest shareholder. Mr Bronfman, now head of Warner Music, was vice-chairman of Vivendi until his resignation in 2003.

Says the Times:

“Judge Jean-Marie d’Huy, the investigating magistrate, has accused Mr Messier of divulging ‘false or misleading information’ in 2001 as he sought to bolster the balance sheet in the wake of huge expansion.

“Mr Bronfman, the head of the American distilling dynasty and deputy chief executive at the time, is accused of insider dealing through the sale of stock options in 2002 ‘whilst being aware of facts not communicated to the public’.”

Among other things Bronfman, who recently moved to London, has been trying to persuade US schools to adopt Choruss, a “bait-and-switch” music  ‘licensing’ scheme.

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p2pnet – Huge Vivendi tax break, August 27, 2004
Financial Times – Former Vivendi executives to stand trial over share allegations, October 23, 2009
moved to London – Is Warner Music eyeing EMI? Again?, June 24, 2009
bait-and-switch – Choruss, and the sound of silence, October 16, 2009
Times -

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