Nine people were indicted on Tuesday as part of a large net in the "great crime on the Riviera".
At the base of this case, an operation carried out on November 16 against a "criminal organization" specializing in "racketeering", indicates the Marseille prosecutor's office.
In total, 35 people had been placed in police custody as part of this open investigation, in particular for "criminal conspiracy, running a gambling house in an organized gang, money laundering committed by an organized gang and extortion in an organized gang".
From a source close to the investigation, one of the last historical figures of the Nice community was among these people arrested.
Organized racketeering, with the support of a policewoman
Concretely, this criminal organization had "got hold of many shops, restaurants, nightclubs, car garages, construction and public works companies and private beaches on the French Riviera", explained the Marseille prosecutor's office.
"In return for" protection "", their officials were "forced to pay a tithe consisting of free services, fictitious jobs or the monthly payment of sums of up to several thousand euros".
And "the recalcitrant quickly found themselves victims of threats, thefts or fires, having no other choice but to submit".
Still according to the prosecution, this criminal organization "relied on the assistance of a police officer who had access to the various files of the national police force and gave them advice to thwart possible surveillance".
It was not specified Tuesday whether this official is one of those indicted.
"In search of new markets", this organization had also "tried to penetrate the town hall of Menton (Alpes-Maritimes), via one of its members placed on a list competing with the outgoing mayor during the last municipal elections", according to the prosecution.
But he was ultimately not elected.
Two people imprisoned in Spain and under a European arrest warrant
After the committal of six people, a seventh was imprisoned Tuesday evening.
The last two people indicted were left free under judicial supervision.
The prosecution appealed against this decision in one of the cases.
Finally, two other people were placed under the status of assisted witness and two others, imprisoned in Spain, are under a European arrest warrant, said the prosecutor of the Republic of Marseille, Dominique Laurens, in a press release.
Newsletter - Most of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le Parisien
I'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to enable you to receive our news and commercial offers.
Learn more
It is one of these two people arrested in Spain who would be "the head of this criminal association", according to the Marseille prosecutor's office, in a previous press release taking stock of an investigation opened more than a year ago .
Likewise, all the henchmen who acted on his instructions ”had been arrested, in the Alpes-Maritimes, the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence or the Var, but also in Haute-Corse and Oise.
