Billionaire Scaffolding ‘King’ Guilty of Bribing Rugby Boss
- Billionaire Mohed Altrad gets 18-month suspended jail term
- French rugby chief Bernard Laporte also convicted over pact
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A French billionaire known as the “king of scaffolding” was found guilty of corruption in connection with his construction company’s sponsorship deal with the French national rugby team.
Paris judges sentenced Mohed Altrad to an 18-month suspended jail term and handed him a €50,000 ($52,770) fine, saying they refrained from an outright management ban to avoid “disproportionate” consequences for a businessman with no prior convictions. The court ruled Tuesday that the founder of the eponymous building giant had improper dealings with the head of France’s rugby federation, Bernard Laporte, who was also convicted.