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The name of this man had not been seen in an article for several years. Former journalist, reconverted into "rappeur d'affaires" of all kinds, Marc Francelet accompanied Alexandre Benalla, the man in the heart of the storm that hits the Elysee, during his interview to "World". Who is he?
1 "Since I released this scoop in 'Le Monde' …"
When we call Marc Francelet this Thursday, July 26, we say we must not be the only one. He says he's already spoken to Edwy Plenel, the boss of Mediapart – the conversation did not seem to have gone very well. Marc Francelet is in a taxi. The septuagenarian prepares the media suites of the Benalla affair, the day will be busy: "Since I released this scoop in 'the World' …". He will repeat this sentence at least three times.
He is also angry, against "the Obs", following an alert received on his phone: "I saw that it was written the Nouvel Observateur, and that there were plenty of you know why I do not really want to talk to you, I know this newspaper very well. " Oddly enough, the article dated back to 2007 when he was indicted. The taxi arrives safely.
2 Mimi, Marc and Alexandre
What did Mimi Marchand, the owner of the Bestimage agency, do in Marc Francelet's apartment at the time of Alexandre Benalla's shooting by the photographer of the "World"? Interviewed by the "Obs" about her role with the Elysée in this crisis, Mimi Marchand, very close to the Macron couple, badures to have nothing to do with the interview. Pure luck, really:
I came to give keys to a holiday home in Biarritz to Marc, a friend I have known for more than forty years. I arrived, and Marc tells me that there is a photographer of the 'World' for Alexandre Benalla
She says she is surprised, she who thought only manage "a problem of holidays". Mimi Marchand is familiar with Alexandre Benalla, whom she met several times during the Macron campaign. He arrived a few minutes after her at Marc Francelet's. The first lady of the paparazzi keeps her old reflexes:
Alexander tells me that he is there for the photo. I thought it was bullshit these pictures. Alexander has shaved his beard. Now everyone will recognize him in his neighborhood.
3 Press card at age 16
Marc Francelet philosopher: "Everyone is jealous, you know." He asks, "How old are you?" We answer: "Too young to be jealous". Marc Francelet had his first press card "at 16", or "at 15". He still remembers his number (from memory, 23,000 and dust). "L a journalist with 400 shots" already described him as "the Obs", in 2012, in title of an investigation of Marie-France Etchegoin which was dedicated to him.
One of his biggest scoops? The confessions in "Paris-Match" of Claude Chevet, a former supermarket manager who locked his son in a closet for years. He interviewed him while he was himself in the prison of Health for a few days in 1982. In 2007, rebelote: during his stay in Fresnes, he interviewed his cell neighbor, the one of the murderers of the jogger Nelly Cremel, in June 2005, and published his confessions in "Le Point".
4 Paparazzi
Before recalling its existence, and the The power of his networks, with the Benalla affair, Marc Francelet, born in 1947, likes to point out that he has "50 years of journalistic career and at least 250 scoops" to his credit. Still a teenager, he became a photographer for "Paris-Match" and Claude Azoulay's badistant. His first feats of arms? The photo of Johnny Hallyday in uniform called (donning a trellis, he pretended to be a conscript) or that of General de Gaulle taken without his knowledge in the garden of the Elysee, against all the conveniences of the At the time (wearing a blue one, he had pretended to be a painter and had climbed on a building under construction in front of the palace).
5 "Marco the good tips"
Marc Francelet has easy contact and a very dense address book. His first nickname? "Marco the good tips", given by François Caviglioli, journalist at "Nouvel Observateur", with whom he co-wrote three books at the end of the 1980s. His second? "Mark the Magnificent", when he became number 3 of the General de Eaux, with car and driver. For fifty years, Marc Francelet mixes the genres, writes the journalist Marie-France Etchegoin:
"Businessman and journalist, contributor of information as much as of business, trader in stories.
It was yours and yours with one of the Zemmour brothers, figures of the middle and the Parisian night. "Marco", "the one who knows everything about everyone and whom one never calls in vain", wrote François Caviglioli in a portrait drawn up in 2007 in "Le Nouvel Observateur".
6 Johnny and Bebel
Like all Frenchmen, Marc Francelet has two idols: Johnny and Bebel. François Caviglioli said in 2007: "He is dedicated to them, he is their advisor, their spokesperson." Example: he attended all the rehearsals of Jean-Paul Belmondo's shows and gave his opinion on the staging. Another example: when Johnny Hallyday is wrongfully accused of rape, he publicly defends himself. At the time, Marc Francelet lunched every Sunday at the Belmondo.
7 Françoise Sagan
"It is with Françoise Sagan that he goes the furthest in self-sacrifice", described François Caviglioli in his portrait. It even went too far. Under François Mitterrand, the former journalist came to take an interest in black gold … along with Françoise Sagan and another of his relations, André Guelfi. The latter, nicknamed "Dede la Sardine", owes its notoriety to the Elf affair, a company for which he has long been the matchmaker.
André Guelfi wants to obtain from the head of state the authorization to exploit the oil reserves of Uzbekistan for Elf. Marc Francelet imagines that the president, a lover of the arts and letters, can be convinced by Françoise Sagan. He agitated the promise of commissions and "sends Sagan to the Elysee". François Mitterrand hesitates. The epilogue is sad: " François Sagan will, by circuits as doubtful as circumscribed, a part of the promised money." Heavily condemned by the fisc, she will end her ruined life. "
8 Paintings and the FBI
Before more serious setbacks with justice, Marc Francelet had been worried "only" for having sold stolen paintings via the sulfur art dealer Paul Petrides. The story is a novel. Petridès, a great art dealer, offers him a trip to Florida for a small service. "He entrusts Marc with rolled cloths so that he can give them to those he calls his 'correspondents from across the Atlantic'," said François Caviglioli.
Marc Francelet does not know that the paintings "which he has carelessly put in his suitcase without even taking a look at" come from the resounding case of the Banania collection. "Petrides is only a high-flying kid who chose to exploit a kid." In Miami, Marc Francelet is picked by the FBI, who forwards him to the French justice system. The investigative journalist of the "Express", Jacques Derogy, defends him. He was "on the track of Petrides, who won for Goring works stolen from Jewish families deported during the Occupation."
9 Business
Business list is long and in the image of the life of Marc Francelet. Two examples among others:
- He was indicted by Judge Courroye in the context of the case " oil for food" in 2007. It will be relaxed.
- In 2014 , the Paris Court of Appeal confirms his sentence to two years in prison suspended sentence and 100,000 euros fine, for fraud to unemployment insurance and for illegally benefited from money drawn on the accounts of companies.
10 Philippe Courroye
Marc Francelet had a sworn enemy: Judge Philippe Courroye, who had indicted him in the "oil for food" case in 2007. He hated him. During a hearing, on March 29, 2007, that "the Nouvel Observateur" published partly in 2012, the magistrate had sent to Marc Francelet:
"You spread rumor throughout Paris that [je suis] a CIA agent who seeks to destabilize France. "
Francelet's answer:
"When I say that you are a CIA agent, it is a way of speaking, I have the right to write a novel."
Paul Laubacher
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