The villa at the heart of the Kiabi affair sold, a Pécresse-Retailleau lunch canceled... Our indiscretions of the week

Kiabi is beginning to reconsider the color of the money its former treasurer allegedly stole. A Florida court approved the sale of "Château Allison" for $18.5 million in early July. This sumptuous 650 m² villa in Miami was purchased by Aurélie B. with the €100 million she allegedly embezzled from the accounts of the "low-cost fashion" specialist in the summer of 2023.

The proceeds from the sale of the property will be placed in escrow pending the resolution of the civil case in the United States. The hearing is scheduled for June 2026. Two luxury apartments, also in Miami, must also be sold by then. Indicted for fraud and money laundering as part of an organized gang, Aurélie B. has been in pretrial detention in France for nearly a year.

He was one of the stars of the 2023 reindustrialization plan. This big boss was delighted to inject several hundred million euros into his factories in France. Alas, two years later, enthusiasm has given way to bitterness. "The context has completely changed since then," he confides. "We suffered a major fiscal shock that we didn't expect at the time." To the point of regretting his investment today? "If I were asked to do it today, I don't know what I would say..."

Since the election of the new president of the Republicans, Bruno Retailleau and Valérie Pécresse have not been on the same wavelength. While the regional president would have liked to chair the party's National Investiture Commission, Bruno Retailleau preferred Annie Genevard. On Wednesday, the two elected officials were scheduled to have lunch together. But the meeting was canceled. "A scheduling problem," the Interior Ministry insists.

Some believe the lunch cancellation was primarily linked to the criticism leveled by the head of the Île-de-France region following Bruno Retailleau's column in Le Figaro on the environment. "We reject the sterile war between nuclear power and renewable energies. We are betting on both," Valérie Pécresse declared... taking care not to mention the head of the LR party.

Ten days after announcing the creation of a "progressive platform," Pascal Canfin , the MEP (Renew), is delighted with the nearly 2,000 registrations on the site. These citizens 2.0 are currently being consulted to identify the ten priority themes that will be unveiled next week. The man who has distanced himself from Emmanuel Macron wants to "recreate a common culture" between the central bloc and the left.

Socialists Carole Delga and Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol support the initiative, as do Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher and the Renaissance Vice-President of the National Assembly, Roland Lescure. However, the MEP has not received any feedback from the head of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, and the head of the Green Party, Marine Tondelier. Pascal Canfin warns of deadly divisions: "The progressive party will have to reach 20 to 25% in the first round of the presidential election, otherwise it will be wiped out."

The new IOC President, Kirsty Coventry , will be in Paris on Saturday, July 26, as part of a day of celebrations marking the first anniversary of the Paris 2024 Games. Elected this year to succeed Thomas Bach, who will also be present, she will participate in several events throughout the day, including a lunch at the Grand Palais at the invitation of Rachida Dati and Marie Barsacq, Minister of Culture and Sports respectively, where she will give a speech. Coventry will also attend the launching of the Olympic cauldron in the Tuileries Gardens in the evening.