Oscar-nominated French actress Isabelle Adjani, best known for 'Camille Claudel' and 'The Story of Adele H.,' is formally being investigated for alleged fraud involving hundreds of thousands of dollars in business expenses since October 2020, as confirmed by a court source on Monday.
The investigation stems from a police complaint filed by a former business associate, Sebastien G., in 2015, according to the French national newspaper 'Liberation' which was the first to report the story, as per Variety.
According to the story published in Liberation, the case dates back to 2011 when Adjani hired Sebastien G. as a strategy consultant to help her run her production company, Isia Films. According to the French report, Sebastien G. received a line of credit for Adjani, as well as an American Express card, which he loaded with 364,000 euros (USD 385,400) over a 13-month period.
He said that he was fired days after he took back the card from Adjani. He said he also loaned her 157,000 euros (USD 166,230) which she had not repaid. After some of Adjani's assets related to her debts were seized, she filed a lawsuit accusing him of misappropriating company assets.
The case was eventually dropped. Sebastien G. then filed a police complaint in 2015 accusing Adjani to have produced fake payment receipts for the 157,000 euros she was supposed to pay him back. The complaint also involves Mimi Marchand, head of the news agency Bestimage, who allegedly helped Adjani produce these payments receipts. Once the formal investigation is completed, a judge will decide whether to drop the case or put Adjani on trial, as per Variety.
Adjani's latest film 'Petra Van Kant,' directed by Francois Ozon, is scheduled to open in France this week. Inspired by Rainer Werner Fassbinder's cult film 'The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant,' the film was shown on the opening night of the Berlin Film Festival. She also stars in Nicolas Bedos' heist comedy 'Mascarade,' which had its world premiere this year in Cannes.
( With inputs from ANI )
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