Castel CEO faces new complaints from founder's family

Gregory Clerc, the CEO of global drinks group Castel, faces two new complaints from Romy and Alain Castel, the daughter and nephew of founder Pierre Castel. The filings extend a dispute that has already cost the family members their board seats and drawn in courts on two continents.

One complaint, filed last month in Luxembourg by both Romy and Alain, alleges misuse of company assets, a source close to the matter told Just Drinks. A second, filed in July by Romy alone in Switzerland, claims "disloyal management" tied to Clerc's earlier work as a tax lawyer for Romy and her father, the source said.

Christian Luscher, Clerc's lawyer, dismissed the filings. "These alleged complaints, which we have not been informed of, against our client come after Romy Castel was placed under formal investigation by the Geneva Public Prosecutor for forgery of official documents," Luscher said. He added that the new complaints were "nothing more than a smokescreen designed to stifle the proceedings brought against Romy Castel by the Public Prosecutor's Office." Romy Castel has denied the forgery allegations, according to a report from French local news outlets Sud-Ouest in collaboration with AFP.

The forgery probe stems from a complaint Clerc filed earlier this year accusing Romy of forging a signature on a power of attorney document, the source told Just Drinks. In June, DF Holding, one of Castel's holding companies, confirmed that Alain and Romy had been removed from their director positions at Castel-Vins, the group's wine arm. A separate DF Holding statement the same month confirmed Romy's removal from her director role at Somdia, Castel's agricultural business in West and Central Africa. Alain still heads the wine business as general manager alongside his brother Philippe Castel.

Luscher said Romy and Alain were "running out of ideas to feed their media vendetta," adding that they were demonstrating "their irresponsibility, their irrationality and their complete disregard for the company's best interests." The Castel Group's management bodies "continue to run the group calmly and to maintain their full confidence in Gregory Clerc, despite these constant attempts at destabilisation," he said.