Le Point : Vincent Crase, l'alter ego de Benalla, a perçu près de 300 000 euros

Vincent Crase, l'alter ego de Benalla, a perçu près de 300 000 euros d'un proche de Vladimir Poutine - http://bit.ly/2R2YIXq

Un mois avant son limogeage, le gendarme de réserve a reçu sur son compte 294 000 euros de la part d'un oligarque russe, une somme qui fait tiquer Tracfin.

Le salarié d'En marche !, mis en examen dans l'affaire Alexandre Benalla, est dans le collimateur. Vincent Crase, 45 ans, gendarme de réserve exclu depuis sa mise en cause le 19 juillet dans l'interpellation d'un manifestant place de la Contrescarpe, surveillait l'accès au palais de l'Élysée avec les policiers de la direction de l'ordre public et de la circulation et les gendarmes de la compagnie de sécurité de la présidence de la République.

Mais l'ambitieux Vincent Crase ne se contente pas de son statut d'employé. Il a également créé Mars conseil, une PME de conciergerie de luxe chargée de fournir des prestations à des gens fortunés, comme un chauffeur ou du personnel de sécurité. Une société sans grande activité jusqu'à son limogeage de l'Élysée et d'En marche ! en juillet.

Pourtant, un mois avant, Mars conseil signe un contrat de 294 000 euros avec Iskander Makhmudov pour la protection de l'oligarque russe et celle de ses enfants. Makhmudov est l'un des actionnaires de Kalashnikov, la célèbre marque de fusil-mitrailleur, et considéré comme un proche de Vladimir Poutine. Forbes le classe au 22e rang des fortunes russes. Des médias étrangers le présentent comme un mafieux bien qu'il n'ait fait l'objet d'aucune condamnation en Europe à ce jour. Virée en juin sur le compte en banque de Vincent Crase, la somme a fait tiquer Tracfin, l'organisme anti-blanchiment de capitaux du ministère de l'Économie et des Finances.

Une prestation sous-traitée à l'ancien employeur de Benalla
Selon nos informations, pour réaliser son contrat russe, Crase a eu recours à l'entreprise Velours, ancien employeur d'Alexandre Benalla. «  C'est Vincent Crase qui m'a présenté aux dirigeants de Velours en 2012. Il les connaissait avant moi  », affirme Alexandre Benalla au Point. Ce dernier y a travaillé de 2013 à 2015. «  Je n'ai rien à voir avec cette histoire. On continue à vouloir me salir alors que ce contrat relève de la vie privée et professionnelle de M. Crase qui est mon ami, n'en déplaise à certains.  »

Contacté, Velours tient à préciser : «  Nous avons effectué une partie de la prestation : Mars a reversé aux alentours de 65 000 euros par mois pour une prestation commencée en juillet qui devait durer trois mois. Mais nous avons mis fin au contrat prématurément, en septembre, après la mise en cause judiciaire de Vincent Crase et Alexandre Benalla.  »

Contacté, Vincent Crase n'a pas souhaité commenter cette affaire dans l'affaire.

FT : Cabinet starts to take charge of Brexit

Cabinet starts to take charge of Brexit
The problem is that ministers are too divided to impose an agreed approach

The PM’s appearance before MPs this afternoon will be more uncomfortable than any she has endured so far. 

Mrs May postponed last week’s landmark Commons vote on her deal, arguing she wanted to get additional changes to the backstop agreed by the EU.

But her  encounter with leaders in Brussels last Friday was a humiliation. The growing consensus in the Commons is that the PM’s deal is dead and that her failure to put it to a vote this week is unacceptable.

Whatever theatre there may be this afternoon, tomorrow’s cabinet meeting feels as though it is potentially more important.

With the May deal in its death throes, collective cabinet responsibility has broken down and ministers are now publicly competing in favour of rival outcomes. These are a managed “no deal”; a second referendum; a Norway Plus arrangement; and the May deal.

It looks increasingly as though cabinet is wresting control from an increasingly beleaguered prime minister. The problem for the cabinet is that it is too divided about the way ahead to impose an agreed approach either on Mrs May or the government.

Several ministers, including Greg Clark, are therefore arguing that the Commons should hold indicative votes early in the new year that decide the way ahead.

If those indicative votes happen, how would the Commons divide?

Mujtaba Rahman of the Eurasia Group consultancy believes that a second referendum is now the most likely prospect, with momentum moving away from Norway Plus.

“Norway Plus is essentially membership absent voting rights,” he says. “Many MPs will find that difficult to support.” In his view, the “base case” now is that parliament will ultimately opt for a referendum.

However, there is still plenty of uncertainty about the way ahead. If MPs fail to converge around any of the alternatives — second referendum, Norway Plus or managed “no deal” — it is not impossible that they might decide to back Mrs May’s deal after all, as the only practical way ahead.

>>> US Gapping down

Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance:

  • WCG mixed FY19 guidance; reaffirms FY18

Health insurers/hospitals showing weakness after District Court rules ACA unconstitutional:

  • HCA -6.2%, THC -5.8% Baird downgrades to Neutral CYH -3.3% CNC -2.8% MOH -2.1% UHS -1.5% CVS -1.2% CI -1.2% HUM -0.9% District Court rules ACA unconstitutional ANTM -0.9% UNH -0.8% WCG -0.7% guides FY19 mixed, reaffirms FY18.

Other news:

  • PCG -4.4% California regulators open case over safety violations
  • TDOC -4% COO/CFO resign; reaffirms guidance
  • GS -1.8% Criminal charges from Malaysia over 1MDB scandal
  • SHPG -1.5% FDA approval of Motegrity
  • JNJ -0.8% continued weakness (-10% on Friday) following baby powder accusations

Analyst comments:

  • BBY -7.2% (downgraded to Underperform at BAML)

>>> US Early premarket gappers

Early premarket gappers

  • Gapping up: PTI +12.06%,  AXON +18.81%, ABIL +9.37%, VSLR +5.66%, ERJ +4.97%, BBL +4.87%, BHP +4.42%, BKS +4.16%, RIO +2.83%, ET +1.92%, SWN +2.63%, SLB +2.30%, HBAN +2.16%, LIN +2.54%, MCK +1.49%
  • Gapping down: HCA -6.19%, THC -5.74%, BBY -5.38%, PCG -3.88%, CYH -3.32%, CNC -2.77%, ENDP -2.26%, ALK -2.09%, KEYS -2.08%, PHG -2.00%, GS -1.75%, SHPG -1.63%,  CSX -1.26%, FTI -1.14%

NYT : Carlos Ghosn’s Successor at Nissan? The Board Is in No Hurry

Carlos Ghosn’s Successor at Nissan? The Board Is in No Hurry

TOKYO — Nissan Motors did not name a new chairman at a board meeting on Monday, nearly a month after the Japanese automaker removed Carlos Ghosn as chairman, saying instead that it would appoint a special committee to review its corporate governance and its director compensation system.

Mr. Ghosn, along with the company itself, was indicted last week on charges that they violated Japanese financial laws by underreporting Mr. Ghosn’s compensation in securities filings. Mr. Ghosn, who was first arrested in November, currently sits in a Tokyo detention center after being rearrested on a separate charge of underreporting compensation for a different time period.

Speaking after a meeting of Nissan’s board, Hiroto Saikawa, the automaker’s chief executive, said the group had not set a deadline for naming a successor to Mr. Ghosn. “We shouldn’t hurry,” Mr. Saikawa said. “We should not be slipshod.”

Nissan said the special committee would include four outside advisers and three current Nissan directors and would submit its recommendations by the end of March.

Nissan is struggling to cope with the fallout from Mr. Ghosn’s indictment, which has left its alliance with Renault, the French carmaker, in disarray. Renault, which installed Mr. Ghosn at Nissan nearly two decades ago at a time when the Japanese carmaker was on the brink of bankruptcy, now owns 43 percent of the company that Mr. Ghosn is credited with reviving.

Mr. Ghosn stepped down as chief executive of Nissan last year but remained as chairman. He is also chairman and chief executive of Renault. Although the French carmaker has appointed a leadership team to run the company on an interim basis while Mr. Ghosn is in detention in Tokyo, its board said last week that an internal inquiry into his compensation had found no irregularities and that he would remain chief executive.

Nissan said it conducted an extensive internal inquiry into allegations that Mr. Ghosn worked with a fellow board member, Greg Kelly, a former human resources manager at Nissan, to develop hidden compensation packages and use corporate resources for personal use.

Nissan turned over the results of its investigation to Tokyo prosecutors, who initially arrested Mr. Ghosn and Mr. Kelly on Nov. 19. Mr. Kelly has also been indicted and remains in detention in Tokyo.

According to a person with knowledge of Nissan’s investigation, Thierry Bolloré, deputy chief executive of Renault, sent a letter last week to Mr. Saikawa urging Nissan’s board to call a general shareholders’ meeting to review the company’s corporate governance policies and vote on replacements for Mr. Ghosn and Mr. Kelly, both of whom remain on the board.

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Mr. Saikawa on Monday declined to comment on the letter but said Nissan would determine when it names a successor to Mr. Ghosn. “We will listen to what they have to say, but at the end of the day we are responsible for Nissan’s governance,” he said.

Corporate governance experts have noted that Nissan had not adhered to voluntary recommendations that companies appoint a separate compensation committee made up of independent directors. In fact, Mr. Ghosn, as chairman, retained ultimate discretion over pay of all the directors.

“I think one of the most acute issues here is that there has been excessive concentration of power into one person,” said Seijiro Takeshita, dean and professor at the School of Management and Information at the University of Shizuoka. “I don’t think anyone can deny that.”