Monsieur Georges, a funny fellow with a personality so strong that he takes up all the space without being present.
A ghost that would have the appearance of Belmondo to those who saw him in the flesh.
This is not the case with the Nanterre Criminal Court which, this Thursday, tried this 58-year-old man for laundering tax fraud, as well as the aptly named Fortuna, his ex-partner, and a broker in works of art. having a storefront in Paris.
On the merits, the laundering of tax fraud does not hold, according to defense lawyers.
Monsieur Georges, a broker in works of art was not officially so.
He must therefore be considered as an individual who would not have the obligation to declare the income derived from his business.
"He took advantage of a tax loophole", summarizes one of his lawyers, Me Jean-David Scemama.
A "marginal", who has always lived "under the radar"
It is not so simple.
Mr. Georges, "an extraordinary personality, a great mix of Audiard and San-Antonio" describes his lawyer Karine Sordet, has always lived "under the radar".
"He's an outsider," keeping his last name a secret, living without a passport or a bank account.
But he lived well.
Very well, in an apartment of 80 m2 avenue Foch in Paris, rented 2,500 euros per month.
Paid in cash obviously.
His ex-partner Fortuna told it on the bar Thursday.
“I lived in an HLM, I worked in a window company in Boulogne-Billancourt.
A friend told me that an acquaintance of hers wanted to change her windows.
It was Monsieur Georges.
He invited me to dinner on Avenue Foch, I did the quotes and little by little… ”
Thus, Fortuna she fell head over heels in love, at the beginning of the 2010s, with the attractive Mr. Georges, whose surname she claims to have ignored throughout their relationship.
"He said he had a past to settle and that it was better that I did not know", assures this woman whose Italian origin can be seen in the movement of her hands.
He received an allowance from Pôle emploi but brewed hundreds of thousands of euros
A past ?
For sure.
Orphaned at 6 years old, ward of the Nation, he dropped out of school in 6th grade, attended reformatories before prison.
Result: nine convictions in the record between 1986 and 2016, in particular for breach of trust, forgery, fraud.
With a three-year firm sentence to be served.
In 2016, as the Financial Squad's investigation threatened him, he surrendered himself to the police.
The investigations began after a report from Tracfin, Bercy's anti-money laundering unit, which had identified suspicious financial flows on Fortuna's accounts.
The fifty-year-old, who lives in Clamart, received an allowance from the Pôle Emploi but brewed hundreds of thousands of euros.
Almost a million between 2011 and 2015. In fact, his bank account was used to cash what Mr. Georges was selling.
Fortuna denies him.
“He was very generous, we were in love, he gave me gifts.
But me, the paintings…
He was telling me Do what you want, sell them if you want.
Utrillo, Chagall, I didn't see myself with that in my HLM.
"But you lived on avenue Foch", notes the president.
“Yes but after.
“Except that she sold the works before.
Talented hunter and fine negotiator
Also judged, the broker having a storefront, told how Mr. Georges came to find him in 2009, looking for a painting by Utrillo.
“I got to know him in 1987 when I had a flea store.
He is a bargain hunter, who learned everything on the job.
In 2009, the talented bargain hunter, also a fine negotiator, was released from prison and turned to his old friend.
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He is looking for a painting by Maurice Utrillo for one of his clients.
The broker goes on a quest and finds one.
Sale price: 105,000 euros.
“He showed it to his client and came back with a check for 165,000 euros.
It is enormous !
»As Mr. Georges does not have a bank account, the broker cannot pay him his commission of 60,000 euros.
The two men come to an agreement: Mr. Georges will have a line of credit with the broker.
The system has worked for years.
“Under the radars.
"
"Their bad faith is dripping down"
“These people present themselves as perfectly honest schemers, annoys the prosecutor Jean-Baptiste Bougerol.
Their bad faith is dripping, but they have achieved their objective: to camouflage the money in a construction of hidden financial flows to smoke up justice.
It's very complicated to follow this art bargain that works in a network.
“However, he requested four years in prison, half of which suspended against Mr. Georges and a fine of 80,000 euros, three years including one firm and 40,000 euros against the official broker and ten -eight months closed for Fortuna.
The lawyers pleaded in turn that Mr. Georges is an individual not subject to tax declaration for the sale of the paintings, that the other two defendants not having committed tax fraud, they cannot be convicted of laundering tax fraud.
The judgment will be rendered on February 18.
It remains to be seen whether the elusive M. Georges will show the tip of his nose.