Alexis Kohler case: Court of Cassation reopens investigation into links between MSC and Emmanuel Macron's former right-hand man

A small legal victory for the former secretary general of the Élysée Palace. The Court of Cassation has asked the Paris Court of Appeal to review the statute of limitations for the charges against Alexis Kohler . In November, the Paris Court of Appeal ruled that it was not justified.

Emmanuel Macron's former right-hand man was prosecuted because, as a senior civil servant, he participated in decisions concerning the MSC group, run by his cousins ​​from the sea. From 2009 to 2012, he represented the State Shareholding Agency on the boards of directors of STX France and the major maritime port of Le Havre.

Two entities that maintain strategic ties with MSC and award it contracts. Subsequently, and until 2016, in the offices of Pierre Moscovici and Emmanuel Macron at the Ministry of Finance, he was also able to influence certain matters. Alexis Kohler is criticized for his family ties to the cruise line MSC, one of the world's leading maritime freight companies, where he was also CFO.

During the hearing before the Court of Cassation on May 28, the lawyer for the Anticor association listed the decisions concerning MSC in which Alexis Kohler took part.

But according to the Court of Cassation, the appeals court did not provide sufficient reasons for its decision, in November 2024, to reject the statute of limitations. At issue was Alexis Kohler's possible concealment of his family ties.

The investigating judges believe that the statute of limitations begins in 2018, the date of their revelations in Mediapart articles. Defense lawyers believe that this period expired in 2014 and argue that Alexis Kohler did not conceal from his superiors the personal ties he had with MSC shareholders.