Ikea execs charged in French spying scandal
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
Published: 20 Nov, 2013 CET.
Updated: Wed 20 Nov 2013 10:09 CET
The CEO of Ikea in France and two other top executives were charged on Tuesday in connection with suspicions the French branch of the Swedish home furnishings giant illegally used police files to spy on staff and customers.
Ikea France's CEO Stefan Vanoverbeke, CFO Dariusz Rychert and the company's former CEO, Jean-Louis Baillot, were charged with "complicity to collect personal data" and "complicity to violate professional secrecy", a judicial source told AFP. All three were formally held for questioning by police in Versailles, near Paris, on Monday. The charges follow police seizures at Ikea France's headquarters in the Paris suburbs earlier this month. A spokeswoman for Ikea France, the Swedish furniture giant's local subsidiary, said the firm was aware of the latest developments. "The company will continue to assist the establishment of the truth," she said. Chief executive Vanoverbeke's lawyer said his client denied the charges. "My client totally disputes his involvement in this matter. He's calmly awaiting the next steps in the process," said attorney Alexis Gublin. Ikea France was itself on Tuesday charged as a legal entity and ordered to pay a deposit of €500,000 ($670,000) to secure possible compensation for the civil parties in the case, according to the same judicial source. The Versailles prosecutors' office declined to comment on the report. Prosecutors launched a criminal probe in April 2012 following allegations that Ikea France paid for illegal access to secret police files to gain information about employees and clients, including about their court and police records and bank accounts. A Swedish couple living in France also took legal action to force Ikea to admit to the practices. "We are Swedish. We used to be proud of Ikea and Kamprad," Swede Pascal Denize told The Local at the time in reference to Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad. "We used to toot their horn, defend their products. Now all we feel is shame”.
Keen to repair its reputation, Ikea France subsequently fired four employees, launched an internal inquiry and established a code of conduct to avoid a repeat of the scandal. Several people had already been charged in connection with the case, including Ikea France's former risk management head Jean-Francois Paris. Four civilian police employees have also been charged and are suspected of selling confidential police files to Ikea France. Media reports have said sources were paid about 80 euros in each case to hand over files from the police STIC file system, which tracks millions of names and personal information about criminals, victims and even witnesses. Reports alleged Ikea France requested information on its own employees, including union members, the owners of certain car registrations and names associated with a list of mobile phone numbers. In one case the company allegedly asked for personal information on a customer who was suing it for €4,000. The judicial probe in Versailles was opened after a complaint was filed by labour unions. The company has 29 stores and 9,300 employees in France. DON'T MISS: Ikea or Death? Swedish names spark online craze
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Ikea France's CEO Stefan Vanoverbeke, CFO Dariusz Rychert and the company's former CEO, Jean-Louis Baillot, were charged with "complicity to collect personal data" and "complicity to violate professional secrecy", a judicial source told AFP.
All three were formally held for questioning by police in Versailles, near Paris, on Monday.
The charges follow police seizures at Ikea France's headquarters in the Paris suburbs earlier this month.
A spokeswoman for Ikea France, the Swedish furniture giant's local subsidiary, said the firm was aware of the latest developments.
"The company will continue to assist the establishment of the truth," she said.
Chief executive Vanoverbeke's lawyer said his client denied the charges.
"My client totally disputes his involvement in this matter. He's calmly awaiting the next steps in the process," said attorney Alexis Gublin.
Ikea France was itself on Tuesday charged as a legal entity and ordered to pay a deposit of €500,000 ($670,000) to secure possible compensation for the civil parties in the case, according to the same judicial source.
The Versailles prosecutors' office declined to comment on the report.
Prosecutors launched a criminal probe in April 2012 following allegations that Ikea France paid for illegal access to secret police files to gain information about employees and clients, including about their court and police records and bank accounts. A Swedish couple living in France also took legal action to force Ikea to admit to the practices.
"We are Swedish. We used to be proud of Ikea and Kamprad," Swede Pascal Denize told The Local at the time in reference to Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad.
"We used to toot their horn, defend their products. Now all we feel is shame”.
Keen to repair its reputation, Ikea France subsequently fired four employees, launched an internal inquiry and established a code of conduct to avoid a repeat of the scandal.
Several people had already been charged in connection with the case, including Ikea France's former risk management head Jean-Francois Paris.
Four civilian police employees have also been charged and are suspected of selling confidential police files to Ikea France.
Media reports have said sources were paid about 80 euros in each case to hand over files from the police STIC file system, which tracks millions of names and personal information about criminals, victims and even witnesses.
Reports alleged Ikea France requested information on its own employees, including union members, the owners of certain car registrations and names associated with a list of mobile phone numbers.
In one case the company allegedly asked for personal information on a customer who was suing it for €4,000.
The judicial probe in Versailles was opened after a complaint was filed by labour unions.
The company has 29 stores and 9,300 employees in France.
DON'T MISS: Ikea or Death? Swedish names spark online craze
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