Expenses fraud at "The SeaCleaners": Public prosecutor's office investigates Yvan Bourgnon
YACHT-Redaktion
· 11.12.2023
More trouble for Yvan Bourgnon: the extreme sailor and founder of the organisation "The SeaCleaners" has been accused of financial irregularities by the board of the environmental organisation, which have been confirmed by an independent audit. This emerges from a report in the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung". According to a statement from the organisation, the investigation revealed that the Swiss company had incurred expenses that were not in line with the association's statutes and articles of association. As a result, the board reconstituted itself and initiated disciplinary proceedings against the previous president of the organisation.
However, before the disciplinary council could meet with him for a discussion, Bourgnon resigned from all his posts. In addition, the Lorient public prosecutor's office is now investigating him for "abuse of trust". Bourgnon denies the accusations and speaks of a skilfully staged mutiny against him.
Yvan Bourgnon allegedly cheated on official accommodation and expenses
As the NZZ further reports, an investigation by the French daily newspaper "Libération" brought the affair to light. According to the report, the official flat in Paris, which was used exclusively by Yvan Bourgnon and his family, incurred costs totalling 130,000 euros. In addition, a further 279,000 euros had been incurred for "obviously over-invoiced services" in favour of Bourgnon's partner. Furthermore, expense claims were incomplete and "The SeaCleaners" had bought thousands of books from Bourgnon.
Yvan Bourgnon himself made a statement on Facebook. According to the NZZ, he confirms the accusations and states that trust in the members of the Board of Directors has gradually deteriorated. "The mutiny was skilfully orchestrated and I am now forced to abandon ship," he is quoted as saying.
Trial for fraud in the Northwest Passage with the catamaran
The 52-year-old was already on trial in 2022. At the time, it was about his crossing of the Northwest Passage on a sport cat in 2017. The film director Pierre Guyot, who wanted to make a film about the journey, accused the sailor of fraud. He was disappointed with the footage from the cameras he had attached to the catamaran, and there were also gaps in the tracking. According to Bourgnon, however, this was solely due to technical reasons.
In the criminal proceedings, Bourgnon finally admitted that he had not reported that he had been helped during the crossing. In addition to towing assistance and other support, he had also taken breaks during the 70 days of his crossing. He said: "I spent the night in a hotel, so what? Should I give up because of that?" In the end, Bourgnon had to pay the filmmaker 14,000 euros in damages.
SeaCleaners wants to fish plastic out of the sea with the "Manta"
Yvan Bourgnon became famous after winning the Transat Jacques Vabre in 1997 and sailing around the world on a catamaran from 2013 to 2015. He founded "The SeaCleaners" in 2016 after being shocked by the amount of rubbish in the oceans during his circumnavigation. The NGO combats plastic pollution both in the sea and on land through corrective and preventative measures, such as collection campaigns, raising awareness of the problem and research. The organisation's flagship is the ocean-going catamaran "Manta", an innovative ship with a factory on board. "This ocean liner will be the first ocean-going vessel capable of collecting and processing large quantities of floating marine litter before it fragments and enters the marine ecosystem permanently," says the organisation.
In spring 2023, the "Mobula 8", a smaller version for coastal and inland waters, was put into operation off Bali. According to "The SeaCleaners", the ship can clean up to 15,000 square metres of water surface of plastic particles and microplastics per hour and take up to 2.45 tonnes of them on board. Thanks to its low weight and manageable size, it can also be transported by land and thus quickly brought to its respective locations.
