French tycoon Bollore detained

PARIS: Billionaire French tycoon Vincent Bollore was detained on Tuesday as part of a corruption investigation into his group’s activities in West Africa where it operates several ports, legal sources told AFP.

The 66-year-old head of the Bollore Group was taken into custody in the Paris suburb of Nanterre for questioning about how the group obtained contracts to run Lome port in Togo and Conakry port in Guinea, the sources said on condition of anonymity.

The news that the magnate was being questioned in the latest probe into French business dealings in former colonies in Africa caused Bollore group stocks to tumble over 8 percent in Paris on Thursday.

The 195-year-old company, which has interests in construction, logistics, media, advertising and shipping, issued a statement denying "any illegal actions" in its African operations. Its director general, Gilles Alix, and a senior executive from its communications subsidiary Havas, Jean-Philippe Dorent, were also taken into custody, a judicial source said. Investigators are probing allegations that the group corrupted officials to clinch the Lome and Conakry port concessions in 2010 and 2011 respectively.