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In France? Watch Out for Drunk Cyclists

March 24, 2009 1:23 PM

By CHRISTOPHE SCHPOLIANSKY, Producer, ABC News Paris

The next time you’re on a bicycle wine tour in the Bordeaux region, think twice about getting onto your bike with a buzz.

French police are on the lookout for drunk cyclists.

Ten cyclists spent the night at the Bordeaux police station last week. Their blood alcohol level was above the legal limit.

“I really had the impression that I had fallen asleep, that I was living a nightmare and that I would wake up,” 49-year-old Gaëtane S., a woman who was part of the group arrested, told France Bleu Gironde radio. “I had five glasses of wine. I got onto my bike and was arrested by two cops in central Bordeaux. I ended in the basement of the Bordeaux police station. It’s quite an ordeal to be in police custody. You’re asked to take off your pants, your shoe laces, your bra and you’re thrown into a jail cell. I was telling myself ‘don’t cry, don’t cry.”

Benjamin F., 30, another member of the group, recalled, “We crossed Bordeaux at a speed of 50 mph, with the flashing lights and the siren on.” 

The group was released from jail the following morning.

The police have intensified controls on the two-wheelers in the Bordeaux area after recent accidents that resulted in six deaths since the beginning of the year. According to the police, more than 60 percent of the accidents involving injuries in the Bordeaux area are caused by two-wheelers. In 10 days, more than 1,000 tickets were issued to bicycle and motorcycle users -- a good reminder that cyclists are also subject to traffic laws and signs.   

It’s not good being a Bordelais on two wheels these days…

A 19-year-old cyclist took the police on a 10-minute chase across town last week. Forget about your typical highway police/gangster car pursuit. Non, we’re talking here about the police chasing … a bicycle. The cyclist ran a red light and continued pedalling away despite police orders to stop. The young man took one-way streets, crossed roads avoiding incoming traffic, tried to kick cops who were approaching him, rode on sidewalks, almost hitting pedestrians, and finally fell off his bike. The man was tested for alcohol and use of illicit substances. But  this time the results came back negative.      

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March 24, 2009 in Christophe Schpoliansky | Permalink | User Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

Presidential Romance: Sarkozy-Bruni The Movie

February 18, 2009 11:39 AM

By CHRISTOPHE SCHPOLIANSKY, Producer, ABC News Paris

"Sarkozy-Bruni: The Movie," coming to a screen near you soon? Well, it will be if Endemol, the production company responsible for the reality TV show "Big Brother," gets its way. The production house in France is working on a TV film about the first year of the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy, including his affair and marriage to former-Italian-top-model-turned-singer Carla Bruni.
 
The drama will be a mixed adaptation of two unauthorized biographies published last year that talked about the French first couple’s love at first sight and swift marriage. It will also tell about the president’s deteriorating relationship with his ex-wife Cecilia and his election battle.

Cécilia Sarkozy, the rather ephemeral first lady, left the then-interior minister in 2005 for another man, French advertising executive Richard Attias. But Sarkozy persuaded her to come back, right on time for the presidential election campaign. She supported him (sort of, given that she reportedly did not vote in the second round of the election). But shortly after unpacking her suitcases at the Elysée Palace, she decided she had had enough and, for a second time, left the newly elected  president for Attias. She is now married to Attias and, well, we know whom Sarkozy is with.

The French media, however, are rather skeptical about the possible success of the film. They are doubtful that any big TV network would risk the wrath of the president, close to several media bosses, by buying it. 

But hitting the news today is an issue over casting. Sex bomb Italian actress Monica Bellucci was apparently approached to play the role of the French first lady. Her answer, according to Paris Match magazine: “It’s not Carla they should be making a movie about, they should be doing one on my life…” Mamma mia!

February 18, 2009 in Christophe Schpoliansky | Permalink | User Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

$7 Billion Trader: "I Did Not Take One Cent in This Affair"

February 06, 2009 2:10 PM

By Christophe Schpoliansky, ABC News

On Jan. 28, 2008, the world woke up to the news that a French bank, Société Générale, had lost close to $7 billion at the hands of a single trader, Jérôme Kerviel. 

It was considered at the time one of the biggest rogue trading scandals in history.   

Last week, judges investigating the case submitted the conclusions of their inquiry to state prosecutors. Kerviel, 32, is expected to stand trial on charges of breach of trust, fabricating documents and illegally accessing computers. His former assistant, Thomas Mougard, 24, is also expected to stand trial after he was charged last year with "complicity in introducing false data into a computer system."

This morning, Kerviel gave an interview to France’s  No.1 radio station, RTL. Speaking publicly for the first time since the end of the investigation, Kerviel insisted that he could not have gambled away so much without his superiors' knowledge.

Here are the highlights of this morning's  radio interview:

Q: “The investigation says no personal enrichment…”

JK: “No, I did not take one cent in this affair. Certainly, I have a part of responsibility, I did some stupid things, I admit it. But all these stupid things, I was able to do them only because the bank let me do them and encouraged me to do them. At the beginning of the affair, the lawyer for the Société Générale bank said: ‘It’s the story of a man who saw the car open and who stole it.' The story that concerns me is absolutely not that one. They opened the car door, gave me the keys and head nods telling me ‘go ahead, go for a ride.’ They encouraged me to do it. They watched me doing it. And one day, they say,  ‘the car got stolen.’ And this is really what happened. They let me do it and the day they lost out, when it was convenient for them, they abandoned me. I did a stupid thing, that’s clear. I did a real stupid thing but, once again, I was able to do this stupid thing because they let me do it."

Q: Jerome Kerviel could not have gone outside the hierarchy?

JK: “No, that’s impossible. Everything was visible. I took my positions in front of everyone, in front of managers. I wanted to earn money for my bank, all my operations were seen, monitored and controlled. Do you honestly believe a 15 billion  [euro]  operation  [about $19.2 billion]  could go unnoticed and that the bank would ask no questions? For my part, I wasn't hiding myself. I was at the middle of the desk and everyone could see me work.”

Q: And the others were often doing the same?

JK: “Yes. … I’m not here to finger anyone but yes. There is something to keep in mind, that is all our acts and gestures are controlled in real time. We’re all next to each other, we can hear exactly what each other are saying on the phone next to us. We can’t do anything without other people noticing.    

Q: Why have you decided to speak today?

JK: “Now that the investigation is over, I’ve regained my freedom of speech. Especially,  since a lot of things which have been said and written on the affair, on me and on my life are completely false. That I am a terrorist, that I am autistic, that I moved on my own within the systems in a completely undetectable way. I did not steal anything, I did not want to play, I was never undetectable, I’m not someone secret and I’m not a liar. And I wish today to re-establish a bit of truth.

Q: Jan. 18, 2008, you’re summoned by the Société Général management. How did it go?

JK: “Looking back, I would say it was more like I was being questioned by the police than anything else. They tried to make me say things I did not want to say, things that were not true. They wanted to make me confess things I had never done. Probably to make me hold a responsibility alone in a small office with people who took turns to question me.”

Q: And from there…

JK: “Everything goes very quickly. I see my picture all over the  Internet, on television. I really feel like I'm in a movie and I don’t understand why they abandoned me at that time. It just happened overnight. At no point I could have imagined. It was a fury  [the day the bank announced the loss]. I started realizing a bit the day before the Société Générale announced the loss. When an employee of the bank called me and said,  ‘get out of Paris, change your cell phone number, buy a train ticket and leave.’”

Q: What is your response after the bank employee tells you to get out of town?

JK: “I’m a bit destabilized. I’m being told there is going to be an announcement. I don’t know what the content of this announcement is. Everything goes very quickly. My name is circulating everywhere. I don’t understand what’s happening. I’m completely overtaken. And even today, I’m completely overtaken, on both at the emotional and media levels. I don’t completely take the measure of what’s happening, even today.”   

Q: The bank lodged a complaint. You know you’re going to be questioned by the police…

JK: “Very quickly, I’m summoned to the financial brigade of the French police. It’s a shock for me. It’s never pleasant to be held for questioning. It’s long. I recognize my part of the responsibility, I say ‘this is how it happened.’ I explain myself on what I did. I became a trader in 2005, I had a financial target of 3 millions euros  [about $3.8 million] to reach. In 2008, my financial target was 55 million euros [about $70.6 million]. Just give me a sector where such return is asked of an employee? It means stress, a daily pressure to achieve these results. There is a real pressure on the trader. Every day, at the end of the day, your manager comes to you, asking, ‘did you win today? Were you a good winner?’ I heard this expression time and time again: ‘Were you a good winner today?’”

Q: It’s been said as well that you wanted to stand out,  compared to other traders?

JK: “No, absolutely not. My goal was not to stand out vis-à-vis the other traders. Maybe I had fewer diplomas than some of them, this is what was said a lot at the beginning, that I wanted to stand out because I had fewer diplomas. I was just trying to do my job.”

Q: What was the most difficult time, the moment when you maybe had doubts?

JK: “The image that I keep in my mind is the look of my mom in a 2-meter-square  [6.5-foot-square] hallway at the Paris prison at the time of the visiting room. I don’t wish to say anymore   on this. The only thing that I can say is that I’m lucky to have a mom who loves me and that’s great. She supported me a lot during this period. I keep this image in my head at all time, and this is what allows me to keep moving forward.” 

Q: What about these suspect transactions? Did you go over what you’re allowed?

JK: “I admit I went too far, I took important positions.  There is a certain disconnection of reality at some point. Numbers no longer really mean anything. The first trade that I made was for 200,000 [euros, about $256,000]. My hand was trembling; that's almost the price of an apartment. After a week,  I had forgotten the fear. I allowed myself to fall into a self-perpetuating spiral onto which my bosses poured fuel, so that it turned at top speed. This was my job, the trading room.  It was a complete cocoon. I felt good in it.”

Q: What was a good day for Jerome Kerviel at the Société Générale?

JK: “A good day for a trader in the sector of activity I was in, it is about 40,000, 50,000 euros  [about $51,000, $64,000] in profit.  I posted some days at 1 million euros  [about $1.3 million]. These were completely unreal numbers but it was considered as normal.”

Q: Were you ever told “be careful, you’re going too far”?

JK: “No, at no point did anyone tell me 'stop.'  I would have liked someone to have said, 'Enough with this stupidity, it’s going to turn out badly.’ The reaction of my managers and my superiors encouraged me to continue since everybody was satisfied. I had no reprimand.”

Q: You have said that the investigation was sponsored by the SG  [Société Générale ] ?

JK: “I indeed have the impression that the SG pulls the strings in this investigation, that it is driven by the bank.  What I can guarantee you is that I will keep fighting until the end.”

Q: Do you have any desire to return to trading?

JK: “Certainly not. This is a circle I no longer want to know. This is no longer a place I want to frequent; these are people I no longer want to know. Everything is fake in this circle, everything is unreal, and everything is based on the appearance. I no longer recognize myself in this circle. I’ve opened my eyes."

Q: What would you say to Jerome Kerviel if you did not know him and if you met him?

JK: “How bloody stupid you’ve been! Looking back, I let myself be carried away by a whole system."

Q: Is it true you’ve been solicited for books, movies?

JK: “No, it's not true. I have absolutely no desire to become famous, that my life be laid out in the newspapers, that utter lies be written about me, that things I said be stolen, that photos of me be stolen. It’s not always pleasant. Even if it’s always nice to have people give you messages of support, it’s indeed oppressive. It's not in my nature to express myself, to expose myself. It’s just not me.”

Q: When this will be over, what will you be looking for?

JK: “Anonymity, peace and live peacefully."

Q: That you’re no longer being recognized in the street?

JK: “That I don’t get recognized in the street, that I don’t see my name written everywhere in newspapers as soon as there is news.”

Q: You don’t want to see photographers in front of your door?

JK: "Indeed,  it would suit me just fine to not be followed. I just want to be forgotten, simply."

Q: Who was Jerome Kerviel before scandal and who is he today?

JK: Before and after, I’ve always been ‘Mr. Nobody.’ And I hope to become this once again, very quickly”

In reply to the interview, Société Générale lawyer Jean Veil said Kerviel was downplaying his culpability.

"He reminds me of a child who lies all the time, who does not want to accept responsibility for anything," Veil told RTL radio. "It's always someone else's fault, whether it's the judge, Société Générale, management, the lawyers. It's never him. The reality is that what he did was hidden, very cleverly and deliberately hidden."

February 6, 2009 in Christophe Schpoliansky | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

France disrupted by massive nationwide strike

January 29, 2009 2:57 PM

By Christophe Schpoliansky, Producer, ABC News Paris.

The main French unions called today for a national day of strikes and demonstrations throughout the country to ask for urgent measures to be taken to protect jobs, salaries and purchasing power during the global economic crisis. 

 

Hundreds of thousands of people marched on the streets of more than 200 French cities. French police estimated the number of protesters around the country at more than 1 million while the Confédération Générale des Travailleurs, France’s main union, announced that 2.5 million people had taken part in the protest nationwide.  Work stoppages affected all sectors of the economy, including the private sector, which usually does not easily go on strike: transportation, hospitals, schools, banks, the automobile industry, among many other sectors.

At midday, union leaders expressed their satisfaction at the workers’ mobilization. The nationwide demonstrations are “the most important demonstrations we’ve seen in about 20 years,” French Democratic Confederation of Labor union leader François Chérèque said at the beginning of the Paris demo, which, according to police, drew 65,000 protesters. According to workers unions, 300,000 protesters gathered in Paris.   

Today’s events were the first real test for conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy and his government. Their aim was to highlight fears over growing unemployment, discontent over Sarkozy’s reluctance to help consumers and resentment toward bankers blamed for the economic slump.  At the same time, many people view the president as all too ready to rescue banks via stimulus packages.

A poll published Sunday showed that 69 percent of those polled “have sympathy for the national day of strike and demonstration.”   

“Anxiety, anguish for some, sufferings for others, I perfectly understand that … but I cannot stop the movement of reforms,” Sarkozy said Tuesday in Châteauroux, western France. “In a democracy, it is normal that people protest, it is normal there is a debate … but I was elected to conduct a country of 65 million people and I want us to get out of the crisis stronger than when we got into it.”

Today, Sarkozy had nothing on his public agenda and spent the day in the Elysée Palace. Tonight, Sarkozy announced in a statement that he would meet in February with labor and employers unions to consider a schedule of reforms to be conducted in 2009. 

“The government has acquired credibility in its rescue plan towards banks and sector facing difficulties, but now it must address to the entire workers of both private and public sectors who are worried,” French political analyst Pascal Perrineau told France 2 TV today.   

The only satisfaction for people working today is that what was expected to be a Black Thursday in the public transportation system, traditionally the sector most affected by the strikes, turned out to be a much less chaotic day. Disruptions this morning were less important than anticipated. This is partly because a 2007 law ensuring minimal service in the public sector was implemented and workers who wished to go on strike had to declare so in advance, allowing plans to be made. Some subways, buses and regional trains had to operate and many people were surprised to be able to board subways and trains. Also, many people simply took the day off and stayed home, often to care for their kids whose teachers were on strike. 

“I saw a lot less people today and the people who came to buy a newspaper told me that curiously, things went pretty well in the public transportation system. Automobile traffic was fine as well in and around Paris because I think a lot of people took the day off today,” Marc Larapidie, who owns a newsstand next to a metro exit in Levallois, outside Paris, told ABCNews.com.

January 29, 2009 in Christophe Schpoliansky | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Belgian TV Site Wrongly Declares Queen Dead

January 22, 2009 12:10 PM

By CHRISTOPHE SCHPOLIANSKY, Producer, ABC News Paris

Oops, the Belgium queen is not dead, as was wrongly announced this week by a Belgian TV Web site.

Belgium’s Flemish VRT television Web site wrongly announced the death of Queen Fabiola of Belgium Tuesday night. Queen Fabiola, 80, has been hospitalized for a bronco-pneumonia since Saturday. 

The story was on the Web site for just a short period of time and was not visible on the Web site's homepage, where you would think such important news would be posted. It could only be found after launching a name search on the site. Journalists who regularly search Web sites for information called VRT to find out more about its alleged scoop.   

"This was a human error. We’re very sorry and we have sent an apology to the royal family," a VRT spokeswoman told ABCNews.com.

"It’s very normal such articles are written in advance for important people such as the queen. It should not have been published, obviously," the VRT spokeswoman said.

On Wednesday, the Belgian Royal Palace announced that the queen’s health condition had "slightly improved." She had been listed as in "serious but stable" condition.

The queen is the widow of the much-loved King Baudouin of Belgium, who died in 1993.   

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January 22, 2009 in Christophe Schpoliansky | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Are Sales of French Wine Falling?

November 20, 2008 1:55 PM

By CHRISTOPHE SCHPOLIANSKY, Producer, ABC News Paris

“Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé” (The new Beaujolais has arrived).

At one minute past midnight today, corks of the traditional Beaujolais nouveau wine popped in bars in little villages and towns around France.

Released traditionally on the third Thursday of November, the Beaujolais nouveau is a red wine made from Gamay grapes produced in the Beaujolais region of France. It is the most popular nouveau vin, fermented for just a few weeks.

This longtime tradition is celebrated not only in France, but in many other countries around the world, with creative events from midnight pajama parties to cases of wine being delivered by celebrities. 

“The Beaujolais Nouveau is festive. It is a tradition here in the U.S., with more than 250 events organized nationwide around the Beaujolais Nouveau,” Franck Duboeuf, managing director of Les Vins de Georges Dubeouf, the largest négociant of Beaujolais in the world, told ABCNews.com from New York, where he is attending his 26th Beaujolais Nouveau launch.

But far from the optimism about the Beaujolais shown by professionals -- who could see their wine production this year at its lowest level since 1975 due to difficult weather conditions in the region (sun, no rain, cold temperatures) -- some experts fear a drop in sales, accentuated by the ongoing global financial crisis and a general slowdown of the wine market.

“The apparition of the global crisis has amplified this phenomenon of slowdown on the wine market since the beginning of the year,” Renaud Gaillard, vice president of the Federation of Exporters of Wines and Spirits of France (FEVS), told ABCNews.com.

In 2007, exportations of the Beaujolais Nouveau dropped by 21.4 percent in volume compared to the previous year, with more than 17 million bottles exported to over 100 countries for a value of $55 million, according to FEVS. Japan and the United States are the two biggest importers of Beaujolais Nouveau. An average of 50 million bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau are produced each year.

“The drop in the exportation of Beaujolais Nouveau could be explained by the fact that maybe today, consumers are a bit less sophisticated in their mode of consumption and are less inclined to drink products of this type,” Gaillard explained.

But ironically, while the rest of Beaujolais wines could see a drop in sales, the Beaujolais Nouveau could actually benefit from the current global crisis. “In this global economic context, consumers have certainly less money to buy our products which are nonessential consumer goods, and this can benefit entry or mid-level products such as the Beaujolais Nouveau,” a bottle of which ranges in price from a few euros in France to about $10 in the Untited States, Gaillard added.

First tasters say this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau has raspberry tones.

“I taste the Beaujolais Nouveau every year. It’s a tradition. And I can tell you that this year, it tastes good. I’m not disappointed,” Raphael Montagud told ABCNews.com at Le Balto, a bar in Levallois-Perret, just outside Paris.

November 20, 2008 in Christophe Schpoliansky | Permalink | User Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)