British fashion designer John Galliano’s former lawyer was sentenced to two years’ probation on Tuesday following an appeal. The punishment corresponds to the first instance verdict. He is accused of embezzling funds from the designer’s bank accounts and one of his companies.
The Paris Court of Appeal confirmed the criminal court’s verdict of June 2023. Lawyer Stéphane Zerbib was found guilty of embezzlement of 856,500 euros between 2008 and 2011 and of forgery of documents.
Background: Lawsuit filed amid designer crisis
John Galliano filed a complaint against his former legal advisor in April 2011. He accused him of embezzling around three million euros through withdrawals and transfers without his knowledge.
At the time, the designer had just been fired from the French luxury fashion house Dior. In February 2011, he uttered anti-Semitic insults in a Paris bar. He then found himself in a rehab clinic in Arizona to treat his addictions.
Zerbib had denied in court any fraudulent withdrawals from the accounts of his former client and his company Cheyenne Freedom.
Wife also convicted – high compensation payments
The appeals court also upheld a one-year suspended sentence against Zerbib’s wife, Danielle Nahon. The lawyer had also advised Galliano at the time of the crime. She was found guilty of embezzlement, forgery of documents and unlawful use of the legal title.
The lawyer and his wife were sentenced to jointly and severally pay Galliano 145,000 euros in damages and 5,000 euros in compensation. In addition, they have to pay 606,605 euros to the company Cheyenne Freedom.
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