A judge in Paris has ordered a medical assessment of the mental faculties of Hermès heir Nicolas Puech as part of the ongoing inquiry into the disappearance of what Puech says was his 6% stake in the luxury house, people with direct knowledge of the decision said.
The order requires a team of psychiatrists to examine whether Puech, 83, might have been mentally impaired or otherwise vulnerable when his holdings went missing, those people said. Any finding that the heir was susceptible to exploitation could lower the threshold for criminal liability in the probe, because French law treats the exploitation of a persons diminished capacities or other vulnerabilities as a distinct offense.
That special criminal offense is known as "abuse of weakness" and gained international notoriety during the case of the late LOral heiress Liliane Bettencourt, the people said.
Judicial sources confirmed that the office of French financial crime prosecutors was approached for comment and declined to respond. Spokespersons for Nicolas Puech and for LVMH also declined to comment, according to the same sources.
Background of the probe
The psychiatric order is the latest chapter in a dispute stretching back roughly 25 years, when LVMH is alleged to have worked with Puechs Swiss wealth manager, Eric Freymond, to accumulate stakes in Hermès without the knowledge of certain heirs. Prosecutors have concentrated investigative efforts on Freymond and on Swiss lawyer Alexandre Montavon, who advised LVMH on its covert stakebuilding in the 2000s, the sources said.
Prosecutors placed Montavon under formal investigation in May on suspicion of taking part in the misappropriation of Puechs Hermès shares for the benefit of LVMH. Montavon denies any wrongdoing, and the sources said he has appealed the judges decision to order cognitive checks on Puech.
Freymond, who died in 2025, denied wrongdoing in questioning by Paris prosecutors before his death, the sources said.
Civil litigation and contested facts
In a civil suit filed in June, Puech named LVMH and its chairman Bernard Arnault as defendants and is seeking c14 billion ($15.5 billion) in damages from parties who might be found responsible in the parallel criminal probe into the missing shares. Neither LVMH nor Arnault has been formally designated as a suspect in the criminal investigation, the people said.
Reuters previously reported that LVMH pursued Hermès shares through an arrangement struck with Freymond in 2002 and paid at least $20 million in commissions and fees to the financier in connection with the stock build-up. In June court filings, LVMH acknowledged collaborating with Freymond to purchase Hermès stock but said any acquisition of Puechs shares would have been inadvertent. The luxury group amassed as much as 23% of Hermès before a 2014 truce in which it agreed to sell down that stake.
Heirs account and discovery of missing holdings
Puech has said he only realized his shares had vanished in 2022, after he ended his relationship with his wealth manager. He has described having placed blind trust in Freymond for decades. In a 2025 interview with French magazine L'Express, Puech said:
"He had all the signatures in my name and prepared all the documents,"
At current market prices, the heirs missing shares are worth about $9 billion, according to the people familiar with the case. The judges order for cognitive testing is seen by investigators as potentially material to determining whether criminal charges related to exploitation could proceed.
Ongoing legal posture
Montavons appeal of the cognitive examination order is pending, the people said, underscoring that parts of the inquiry remain contested in court. The investigation has prompted intense public attention over the fate of Puechs holdings and the conduct of the individuals and firms involved, particularly given the large values at stake.
For now, prosecutors continue their work in the criminal case while separate civil proceedings pursue damages. The psychiatric assessment ordered by the judge will be a new element in both the criminal inquiry and the broader legal contest over the vanished stake.