The communist mayor of Bobigny and the president of the city's HLM body announced Tuesday, October 13 that they had filed five complaints with the Bobigny prosecutor's office for suspicion of illegal operations during the previous term of office of this city of Seine-Saint-Denis .
"
Five criminal complaints, with which I join as mayor of Bobigny, have been made for favoritism, embezzlement of public property and funds, illegal taking of interests, forgery, use of forgery and fraud
", summarized the mayor PCF Abdel Sadi at a press conference, following revelations from Mediapart published on Friday.
These complaints, filed in early October, "
have not yet reached the magistrate in charge of this dispute,
" the prosecution told AFP on Tuesday.
Read also: The cancellation of HLM rents in Bobigny deemed illegal by the prefecture
They target in particular Jonathan Berrebi, former president of the OPH, but also for some the former centrist mayor Stéphane de Paoli and Christian Bartholmé, his first deputy defeated in the last municipal elections, said Mohamed Aissani, new president of this office.
One of them concerns external insulation work on buildings in two cities, on which weigh "
very strong suspicions about the irregularity
" of the public market, leading to "
an additional cost of nearly ten million euros
“, He detailed.
Mr. Aissani also blames his predecessor for the irregular sale of a building below the price for "
a loss of around 400,000 euros
", "
the decision to repaint 43 stairwells
" in 2019 with overbilling for scaffolding, toilets and mess halls, or even favoritism in the award of certain public contracts.
"
This is so much money that will not be used for the future
" of the organization, he was alarmed, qualifying these alleged practices as "
organized looting
" which weaken the financial situation and penalize tenants and many applicants for social housing.
To read also: The HLM world does not expect "much" from the government
Contacted by AFP, Mr. Berrebi denounces "
unfounded
"
accusations
aimed at "
sensationalism
".
"
It is above all political communication at the start of the mandate,
" he said, considering that he respected the procedures for awarding public contracts and that he had "
nothing to hide
".
The operation of the OPH, which manages 3,900 housing units in this popular city of Seine-Saint-Denis, has already been the subject of a preliminary investigation piloted for "
several months
" by the Brigade for the repression of economic crime (BRDE) , according to a source familiar with the matter.
In addition, the same BRDE is still investigating the management of the town hall of Bobigny.
Searches had taken place in May 2019, in the wake of a report from the Regional Chamber of Accounts published in 2018, which pointed out in particular "
many shortcomings or irregularities
" in the management of personnel.