Lawyer Thierry Lacoste indicted for corruption in Monaco

Lawyer Thierry Lacoste, childhood friend and former advisor to Prince Albert II of Monaco, has been indicted for corruption. This is a new episode in the media-judicial battle opened by the publication in 2021 of the “Dossiers du Rocher”, the Monaco prosecutor’s office said on Saturday.

Thierry Lacoste was taken into custody on Wednesday by the Monaco police who are investigating, after a complaint from real estate magnate Patrice Pastor concerning the “Esplanade des Pêcheurs”, an interrupted real estate project. The Monegasque state was ordered by the local supreme court to compensate the Caroli company, to the tune of 136 million euros, not including interest since 2018.

Under judicial supervision

Prince Albert II personally as well as the Monegasque State became a civil party in this procedure. “At the end of his hearings and after two extensions of his police custody, he was presented to the investigating judge this morning, who charged him with counts of criminal conspiracy, active corruption of a national public official in an organized gang, passive influence peddling in an organized gang and money laundering,” the Monaco prosecutor’s office said in a press release.

Thierry Lacoste was placed under judicial supervision, according to the same source. This indictment “is a shame”, his law firm immediately reacted in a press release.