Former perfume boss fined for illegal reselling

The Paris criminal court heard how in July 2004 Marcel Frydman, former CEO and founder of Marionnaud, sold at least 3,560 perfume bottles intended to be used exclusively for testing purposes, according to a report by Agence-France Presse (AFP). Marcel Frydman was convicted of abuse of confidence along with two others, Patrick Dussaud and Jean-Claude Salas, who received smaller fines of €5,000 each, AFP reported. In addition to the fine, the three men were ordered to pay Kenko, Yves Saint-Laurant and Shiseido subsidiary Beaute Prestige a total of €31,500 in damages. Marcel Frydman, who founded Marionnaud in 1984, denied any involvement in the black market selling and claimed that he sold off sample bottles in an attempt to dismantle a fraudulent ring, according to AFP. In 2005 Marionnaud, which has 1,200 perfume shops worldwide, was bought out by the China-based group Hutchison Whampoa.