Bronfman Set To Stand Trial On Insider Trading

PARIS (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Edger Bronfman Jr. and Jean-Marie Messier are among the list of 7 former Vivendi execs set to stand trial on charges ranging from insider trading and market manipulation to misuse of corporate funds.

The trial, set to commence from June 2nd to June 25th in Paris, looms even while a New York jury deliberates in the final stages of a $2 billion lawsuit brought against Vivendi, Messier, and the company's former CFO Guillaume Hannezo over allegations that investors were deliberately misled about the company's finances, Bloomberg reported.

Messier carries the bulk of the charges and was a key figure in Vivendi's transformation from a 150-year-old water utility to a European media giant. Messier, who served as Vivendi's CEO from 1995 to 2002, has been charged with market manipulation, distributing false information and misuse of corporate funds, a time when the company lost approximately 85% of its value. Bronfman joined the company in 1999 when Vivendi acquired Seagram, which included Universal Studios, MCA Records and USA Networks from Bronfman for $42 billion, making the Bronfman family Vivendi's largest shareholder.

All defendants have denied all of the charges leveled against them. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers