Paris prosecutors and luxury conglomerate LVMH face renewed scrutiny amid a protracted legal dispute involving missing shares of Hermès stock once owned by heir Nicolas Puech. The allegations center on claims that Puech’s approximately 6% stake in Hermès was transferred without his consent as part of complex equity-swap arrangements linked to LVMH’s covert accumulation of a substantial position in the luxury goods rival during the 2000s.

Puech initiated legal action in 2025, seeking damages exceeding $15 billion and naming his former wealth manager, Eric Freymond (who died in 2025), LVMH, and its CEO Bernard Arnault as defendants. Prosecutors in Paris have since placed three lawyers under formal investigation, including one previously affiliated with LVMH during its accumulation of Hermès shares. All individuals under investigation deny any wrongdoing.

In response, LVMH submitted a detailed 20-page filing earlier this month, arguing that it was wrongly implicated in what the company characterizes as a private dispute between Puech and Freymond. LVMH contends that if Puech’s shares were misappropriated, responsibility lies with Freymond, not the group. The filing dismisses allegations that LVMH was aware of any unauthorized transfer of Puech’s stock as “defamatory and baseless.”

The backdrop to the controversy dates to the early 2000s, when Freymond reportedly approached Bernard Arnault’s close associate Pierre Godé to propose an alliance with Puech, who was seeking greater influence over Hermès’s governance. LVMH maintains its goal was to form a shareholder bloc with Puech to influence Hermès’s strategy rather than outright acquire his stake. The luxury group emphasizes that acquiring Puech’s shares would have been contrary to their agreed approach.

By 2007, according to LVMH, Freymond informed the company of a large block of Hermès stock about to come on the market and threatened to sell to rivals if LVMH hesitated. This warning prompted LVMH to establish equity-swap structures, enabling banks to amass shares on its behalf without immediate ownership disclosure. In 2010, LVMH revealed a surprise 17% stake in Hermès, inciting outrage from the Hermès family and triggering regulatory scrutiny.

In 2017, LVMH filed—and later withdrew—an extortion complaint against Puech and Freymond in Switzerland amid ongoing disputes, culminating in a 2019 settlement in London. The agreement, signed by Arnault, Puech, and Freymond, imposed a €10 million payment each to Puech and Freymond without admission of liability.

Puech began questioning the whereabouts of his wealth in 2022 after forensic analysis suggested the disappearance of nearly all his Hermès shares. Initial Swiss proceedings against Freymond failed, prompting Puech’s move to French courts in 2023, where LVMH again faces allegations of involvement.

LVMH’s filing references Freymond’s 2016 Swiss lawsuit claiming credit for orchestrating the covert stock accumulation, yielding approximately €3.8 billion in profits, and demanding a share of the gains. French investigators questioned Freymond in July 2025, during which he acknowledged for the first time transferring a significant portion of Puech’s shares to LVMH in 2008, asserting he acted with Puech’s consent—a claim Puech denies. Two weeks after the interview, Freymond died by suicide in the Swiss Alps.

LVMH describes the situation as a tangled dispute fueled by Freymond’s complex relations and alleged disloyalty, and says it has been compelled to refute ongoing allegations linking the group and Arnault to the missing shares. Puech’s legal representatives argue it is premature to absolve LVMH, urging that responsibility be determined through the continuing criminal investigation. The case remains a focal point of tension in France’s luxury sector, highlighting risks embedded in opaque shareholder arrangements and estate management.