Introduction

Matrix organization

Mergers by absorption

Risks related to the expansion of the scope of criminal liability of legal entities

Validity conditions

Proof of delegation

Exemption from individual liability of delegator

Attribution of offense to legal entity

Delegations of authority

Criminal risk management within business organizations

Complicity in crimes against humanity

Breaches of secrecy

Personal data breaches

Theft

Extortion

Blackmail

Fraud

Misappropriation

Receiving/concealment of unlawfully obtained property (recel)

Attacks on automated data processing systems

Money laundering

Misappropriation by public official (concussion)

Corruption and influence peddling

Unlawful acquisition of an interest

Favoritism

Forgery and use of forgeries

Violation of Criminal Code

Offenses under the Monetary and Financial Code

Offenses under the Commercial Code

Environmental Code violations

Offenses arising from other codes

Types of offenses

Offenses under the Criminal Code, the Commercial Code, or the Environmental Code, Criminal procedure

White Collar Crime (en cours)

Misuse of corporate assets is punishable by a sentence of five years' imprisonment and a fine of EUR 375,000 (Art. L. 241-3 and L. 242-6 of the Commercial Code). When the offense is committed or facilitated through accounts or contracts subscribed with entities established abroad, or through the interposition of natural or legal persons or any comparable entity, trust, or institution established a …

Repression

Misuse of corporate assets is punishable by a sentence of five years' imprisonment and a fine of EUR 375,000 (Art. L. 241-3 and L. 242-6 of the Commercial Code). When the offense is committed or facilitated through accounts or contracts subscribed with entities established abroad, or through the interposition of natural or legal persons or any comparable entity, trust, or institution established abroad, the perpetrator faces seven years' imprisonment and a fine of EUR 500,000 (Art. L. 241-3, paragraph 3 and L. 242-6, paragraph 3 of the Commercial Code). However, the attempt is not punishable due to the absence of a legal provision to that effect .

The court may also impose on the corporate officer the forfeiture of civil, civic, and family rights under Article 131-26 of the Criminal Code, as well as the additional penalties of Article L. 249-1, such as the prohibition from holding a public office or engaging in the professional or social activity during or on the occasion of which the offense was committed, and from engaging in a commercial or industrial profession, directing, administering, managing, or controlling in any capacity, directly or indirectly, for their own account or for the account of others, a commercial or industrial undertaking or a commercial company (Art. L. 241-3, para. 2 and L. 242-6, para. 2 of the Commercial Code) .

The offense of misuse of corporate assets constitutes an instantaneous offense . Its statute of limitations generally begins from the presentation of the annual financial statements by which the disputed expenses are unduly charged to the company . However, in the case of concealment, when the offense cannot be known by either the victim or the judicial authority due to the maneuvers carried out by the perpetrator to prevent its discovery, the starting point of the period may be postponed, in accordance with Article 9-1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, to the day when the offense became apparent under conditions allowing for the exercise of public action . This is the case when the facts could only be ascertained after an audit conducted by certain members of the board of directors , after tax and social security audits , from the day investigators were able to detect it through a thorough analysis of accounting documents, bank statements, and other records to which they had access , during audits by statutory auditors  or from the filing of their report . Conversely, the statute of limitations begins to run from the day the misuse of corporate assets is discovered by a third party .

The civil action may be exercised by the company victim of the offense of misuse of corporate assets through its legal representative (ut universi action), even if judicial liquidation is in progress, as long as the liquidator also has the possibility to exercise the civil action on behalf of the company in liquidation . It may also be initiated by one of the partners or shareholders acting on behalf of the company (ut singuli action) .

On the other hand, the individual action of the partner or shareholder acting personally is inadmissible when the offense of misuse of corporate assets causes personal and direct damage only to the company itself (Art. 2 Code of Criminal Procedure) , but not to each partner , creditors , or third parties .

Cass. crim., 7 April 1998, LawLex202300007004JBJ.

Cass. crim., 2 June 2021, LawLex202200001615JBJ; 5 April 2022, LawLex202200004390JBJ; 1 June 2023, LawLex202400005265JBJ, 14 June 2023, LawLex202400005264JBJ, 24 April 2024, LawLex202400003342JBJ, 7 May 2024, LawLex202400003576JBJ, 23 May 2024, LawLex202400003853JBJ, holding that the legislator limits such a prohibition to only commercial or industrial undertakings and commercial companies.

Cass. crim., 8 March 2006, LawLex202300007195JBJ; Cass. crim., 28 June 2023, LawLex202400005263JBJ.

Cass. crim., 12 October 1995, LawLex202300007028JBJ; 12 June 2012, LawLex202300007569JBJ; 5 December 2012, LawLex202300002282JBJ.

Cass. crim., 28 January 2004, LawLex202300000037JBJ.

Cass. crim., 17 May 2023, LawLex202300007534JBJ.

Cass. crim., 27 June 1995, LawLex202300007502JBJ; 13 December 2000, LawLex202300007199JBJ; 5 December 2001, LawLex202300007501JB; 9 June 2022, LawLex202200003962JBJ.

Cass. crim., 27 June 1995, LawLex202300007502JBJ.

Cass. crim., 28 February 2006, LawLex202300002283JBJ.

Cass. crim., 28 May 2003, LawLex202300007196JBJ.

Cass. crim., 5 May 1997, LawLex202200001607JBJ; 13 October 1999, LawLex202300007510JBJ; 27 June 2001, LawLex202300007193JBJ; 18 January 2023, LawLex202300007533JBJT; 4 September 2024, LawLex202400005934JBJ.

Cass. crim., 13 February 1989, LawLex202200001528JBJ.

Cass. crim., 22 March 2017, LawLex202300000033JBJ.

Cass. crim., 25 October 2006, LawLex202200001609JBJ.

Cass. crim., 4 May 2006, LawLex202300000034JBJ.

Cass. crim., 16 November 2005, LawLex202200001527JBJ.

Cass. crim., 14 November 2007, LawLex202200001526JBJ.

White Collar Crime (en cours)

204. Repression

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

204. Repression

Demandez un accès gratuit au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise