Former DGSE Chief Bernard Bajolet Sentenced to Suspended Prison for Extortion Attempt

Bernard Bajolet, former director of France's external intelligence agency DGSE from 2013 to 2017, was sentenced on January 8, 2026, to one year in prison with a suspended sentence for complicity in an attempted extortion case. The conviction arose from an incident on March 12, 2016, involving Alain Dumenil, a Franco-Swiss businessman with a controversial legal history.

Dumenil was stopped at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport under the pretext of a passport verification check. During this detention, two unidentified DGSE agents allegedly pressured him to repay €15 million, claiming he had defrauded the intelligence service in a failed early 2000s investment scheme involving a secret fund. The agents reportedly threatened Dumenil by displaying photographs of his family, prompting him to file a complaint.

The judicial process took nearly a decade to reach this verdict. Bajolet acknowledged that he had authorized a meeting linked to the case but denied any prior knowledge or approval of the coercive methods used by the DGSE agents. He admitted in court, "Things did not happen as they should have." Despite the prosecution seeking a lighter six to eight-month suspended sentence, the Bobigny correctional court handed down the more severe penalty of a suspended one-year prison term.

This case has sparked scrutiny over intelligence service practices and their interaction with the private sector, highlighting ethical and procedural questions. Neither Bajolet nor his lawyers offered comments immediately after the verdict.

The conviction marks a significant moment concerning accountability within French intelligence agencies and underscores ongoing tensions between state security operations and individual rights.