🎧 Listen to Episode 3 of LEXpérience: “Dealing with Unpaid Bills”

• Watch the video: YouTube
• Available on your favorite streaming platforms: https://smartlink.ausha.co/lexperience

Managers and Criminal Law 

Episode 3 of the LEXpérience podcast

You haven't done anything wrong. You're sure of that.

And yet, one morning, you find yourself in police custody.

Corporate criminal law doesn't just target fraudsters or corrupt officials involved in high-profile cases. It also catches the SME executive who failed to respond to a letter from URSSAF, the manager convinced that his company's money is his own, or the employer whose employee was injured due to a lack of proper equipment.

For the third episode of LEXpérience, ALLY Avocats’ legal podcast, we were joined by Jane Peissel, a criminal defense attorney at the Paris Bar, whose practice focuses primarily on white-collar crime. Direct, informative, and straightforward, she debunks common misconceptions and shares insights that few executives hear before trouble begins.

 

Corporate Criminal Law: What Is It Really About?

One key point is often misunderstood: corporate criminal law is not limited to high-profile cases of corruption or tax fraud.

In everyday life, it also (and above all) involves much more mundane situations. Workplace bullying within a team. A workplace accident on a construction site. A manager who uses the company credit card for personal expenses. Or poorly maintained accounting records, unpaid social security contributions, and administrative correspondence left unanswered.

Criminal law is the branch of law that establishes prohibitions and penalties (fines, imprisonment, disqualification from holding certain positions) when an individual or a company commits an offense. And contrary to popular belief, a company can also have a criminal record.

 

The most common and most underestimated violations

In the episode, Jane Peissel offers a simple framework: classifying crimes based on their victims.

• Workers First: workplace bullying, sexual harassment, and injuries or unintentional homicides resulting from workplace accidents. These situations, particularly in the construction industry, are far more common than people realize.
• Then there are third parties: fraud, counterfeiting, and unfair competition. These are offenses that can make a company either a victim or a defendant.
• And finally, the company itself: chief among these is the misuse of corporate assets, the most common and least understood offense in corporate criminal law.

 

Misuse of corporate assets: “It’s my company, it’s my money” … not really

This is one of the episode’s most powerful messages, and one of the most important for any leader.

The company’s money is not the executive’s money. Once a company is established, it acquires its own legal personality. It has its own revenue, expenses, and obligations. And its money cannot be used for the executive’s personal benefit, even if he founded the company, even if he is the sole decision-maker, and even if no one is watching.

Using a company credit card to pay for vacations, transferring funds from one company to another without an appropriate legal framework, or failing to maintain separate accounting records: these are all situations that may constitute misuse of corporate assets and lead to criminal conviction.

Who can figure it out?

– The certified public accountant, who is required to report any irregularities.

– A buyer in a sale.

– Or the tax authorities, who notice expenses unrelated to the company’s business purpose.

 

Police Custody: What Really Happens

This is undoubtedly the most striking part of the episode.

For a white-collar executive, being taken into police custody is no mere formality. Your phone is confiscated. Your shoelaces are removed. You are placed in a cell. And you are interrogated—sometimes for 48 hours—in an environment designed to unsettle you.

Police officers often play on the hope of a quick release to encourage people to talk. However, statements made while in police custody can be decisive in criminal court. One word too many, a clumsy explanation, or an attempt to “clear everything up” without preparation: these are all mistakes that can backfire.

Jane Peissel's advice is clear:

“Never go into police custody without a lawyer. Even—and especially—when you think you’ve done nothing wrong.”

 

Delegation of authority: the underutilized tool

In a large company, a manager can’t keep an eye on everything. But in principle, he or she is criminally liable for everything that happens within the organization.

Delegating authority allows this responsibility to be organized by entrusting it, within a defined scope, to an employee who has the necessary resources to act. It does not remove the manager’s responsibility, but rather shifts it, provided that the delegation is properly documented and implemented.

A powerful tool that is all too often overlooked by mid-sized companies, even though they are the ones who need it most.

 

Don't procrastinate: the habit that can change everything

One of the central themes of the episode is this: procrastination is one of the main reasons why a criminal case can take a turn for the worse.

A letter from URSSAF went unanswered. A formal notice from the labor inspectorate went unresponded to. A tax settlement was postponed. In each case, what could have been resolved amicably (through a payment plan, written explanations, a commitment to comply, etc.) turned into a criminal case due to the lack of response.

The rule is simple: as soon as an official letter seems threatening, as soon as the company’s accounts are frozen without explanation, or as soon as doubts arise about an ongoing investigation—you need to call a criminal defense attorney. Not in six months. Right away!

 

Criminal liability: a challenge that can be anticipated

Behind every legal proceeding lies a human reality, and the experiences can be deeply affecting. Understanding the legal risks is the first step toward avoiding them.

That is precisely the goal of LEXpérience: to provide practical, real-world insights so that the law becomes second nature.