Four members of a security company will be tried on June 24 for the theft of 50,000 surgical masks in August in Amiens (Somme) in a room they were responsible for monitoring.
In this case, the regional council of Hauts de France had filed a complaint in September "following the discovery of the theft of 50,000 surgical masks, which were packaged in 25 boxes and stored in a room located in Amiens", indicates the prosecutor of the Republic Alexandre de Bosschère in a press release.
This week, four men, all members of a security company responsible for guarding this site, were taken into custody as part of the investigation.
Among them is the manager of the company, said the magistrate.
Masks "sold" on markets
"Partial confessions collected during the hearings" have shown that two employees of the company stole the boxes of masks during a round of surveillance and then resold them.
The masks were then "sold on markets".
The other two men are implicated for complicity in this theft.
Presented to the prosecution on Friday morning, all four of them were placed under judicial control and will be tried on June 24 for theft in assembly and complicity.
Three of them were until now unknown to justice, the fourth was known but "for old facts", indicated the prosecutor.
Thefts of masks were numerous last year.
A truck containing this precious protection had been held up in Rungis (Val-de-Marne).
Thousands of masks had been stolen from the AP-HP.
