In particular, this involves the purchase of more than 850 luxury watches, with a total value of €18 million. A large proportion of these watches were purchased between 2004 and 2011 via 18 of Becca's companies, even though the commercial activities of these companies had nothing to do with luxury watchmaking, according to the magistrates.
On the third day of the so-called "luxury watches" trial, Becca's lawyer, Hervé Temime, pleaded his client's acquittal on Tuesday morning.
There is no abuse of social property in this case, said Temime in his plea. The famous lawyer, who is known across France as "the lawyer of the powerful" (l'avocat des puissants), described his client's business practices as sometimes "atypical", but without any ill will. Nor can one speak of concealment, Temime explained, when the watches had all been accounted for. In addition, his client had offered to provide explanations regarding the watches after the search.
It was above all the work of the judicial police that was the focus of the lawyer's criticism. The search, which did not deserve this name, had been "extravagant", according to the lawyer. No concrete inventory had been drawn up, no expertise of the hundreds of watches had been carried out. The police had seized neither the cases nor the documents, i.e. the original guarantees. During the trial, Temime criticised, he had to ask his client to bring a photo of the case from his home, because 10 years ago the police had forgotten to take a one.
The purchase of every watch appeared in the annual accounts of the companies, stated Becca's second lawyer. It would therefore be wrong to say that the promoter wanted to enrich himself personally at the expense of his companies. This was not necessary either, the lawyer suggested. In 2009, his client's fortune amounted to €400 million. This figure had "significantly" increased until 2019.
Temime also pointed out that in the 190 tax checks carried out by the Luxembourg administration, no irregularities had been found in the balance sheets of the companies with which the watches had been purchased. There was also no indication that Becca had taken illegal dividends from these companies. The fact that some of the watches had been booked as gift expenses before 2007 had been a mistake admitted by the accountant at the time, the lawyer added.
After ten years, the public prosecutor's office still had no concrete evidence, Temime said in front of a packed courtroom. The case had only come to light a few years ago on a suspicion of corruption, which has still not been proven to date, criticised the defence.
The trial will continue on Wednesday afternoon before the criminal court.
Luxury watches represent company investments, says Flavio Becca
Trial against Flavio Becca starts on Tuesday
