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Loïk Le Floch-Prigent

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Loïk Le Floch-Prigent
Loïk Le Floch-Prigent in 1999
Born
Loïk Gérard Henri Marie Joseph Le Floch-Prigent

(1943-09-21)21 September 1943
Brest, France
Died15 July 2025(2025-07-15) (aged 81)
Paris, France
NationalityFrench
EducationGrenoble Institute of Technology
Occupations
  • Businessman
  • engineer
Known forCEO of Elf Aquitaine and SNCF
SpouseFatima Belaïd
RelativesMaodez Glanndour [fr] (uncle)

Loïk Gérard Henri Marie Joseph Le Floch-Prigent (21 September 1943 – 15 July 2025) was a French engineer and businessman. He was CEO of Elf Aquitaine between July 1989 and 1993, then president of SNCF from December 1995 to July 1996, when he was indicted in connection with the Elf affair.[1] He is particularly known in the "Françafrique" circles.[2]

In September 2012, Le Floch-Prigent was charged with being an accessory to fraud whilst in Togo after a complaint from an Emirati businessman was filed claiming that he had been manipulated out of $48 million.[3] He was extradited from Ivory Coast and appeared before a judge where he was questioned for three hours in Lomé.[3]

Personal life and death

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Le Floch-Prigent was born in Brest on 21 September 1943.[citation needed] He was the nephew of the Catholic priest, writer and poet Maodez Glanndour [fr].[citation needed]

Le Floch-Prigent married Fatima Belaïd.[4] The couple later divorced.[citation needed]

His rise to the head of public companies was initially facilitated by the positions he held in the office of the Minister of Industry and his connections in the political world. He was CEO of the oil company Elf between July 1989 and 1993, then president of the SNCF from December 1995 to July 1996. He was subsequently sentenced by the courts to prison terms for embezzlement in the Elf affair.[5]

As part of the Dumas trial, Loïk Le Floch-Prigent was sentenced on appeal on January 29, 2003, to 30 months in prison and a two million franc fine. He was imprisoned in Fresnes prison (Val-de-Marne) on January 31, 2003. As part of the Elf case.[6]

From 2005 to 2010, on behalf of Pilatus, and as part of his mining expertise, he traveled to Africa, to Congo-Brazzaville, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Benin, Tanzania, Egypt, but also to Iraq (Iraqi Kurdistan), Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Syria, Turkey, Canada and the United States.

Since 2008, he has been accused of being responsible for organizing a Nigerian-style fraud involving Pilatus Energy AG.[7]

In 2021, several media outlets revealed the possibility that he would be Eric Zemmour's possible economic advisor for his potential candidacy in the 2022 presidential election.[8]

Le Floch-Prigent died from cancer, aged 81, in Paris, France, on 15 July 2025.[9]

References

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  1. ^ Schofield, Hugh (24 April 2003). "Elf trial reveals moral vacuum". BBC News. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  2. ^ "Elf, Françafrique, Togo: death of Loik Le Floch-Prigent, a man at the center of scandals". jeuneafrique.com (in French). 2025-07-16. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
  3. ^ a b "Ex-Elf boss Loik Le Floch-Prigent on Togo fraud charge". BBC News. United Kingdom. 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  4. ^ "Fatima Belaïd "Interview Vérité" de Thierry Ardisson | Archive INA". YouTube. 20 May 2014.
  5. ^ "Loïk Le Floch-Prigent, ancien grand patron condamné dans l'affaire Elf, est mort". Le Monde. 17 July 2025. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
  6. ^ "L'irrésistible instruction du juge Joly". l'express. 20 June 1996. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  7. ^ "Loïk Le Floch-Prigent et la fable du trésor ivoirien". Le Monde. 17 July 2025. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  8. ^ "Loïk Le Floch-Prigent, l'ami de gauche d'Éric Zemmour". Marianne. 9 July 2025. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  9. ^ "Loïk Le Floch-Prigent, ancien grand patron condamné dans l'affaire Elf, est mort". France Bleu. 16 July 2025. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
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