A close friend of Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI), State Councilor Bernard Pignerol, was heard on Friday February 19 in Paris by the investigating judge in charge of the investigation into the accounts of his 2017 presidential campaign, said a source close to the case, confirming information from
Médiapart
.
Read also: Mélenchon still dreams of a Sixth Republic
Bernard Pignerol, president of the “
Era of the People
”, an association providing campaign services, is the first protagonist in this case to be summoned by the magistrate of the financial center.
The latter resumed investigations at the end of 2018, after a stormy search of the prosecution at the headquarters of La France Insoumise.
At the end of the hearing, the examining magistrate can decide to put Bernard Pignerol in examination or to place him under the more favorable status of assisted witness.
Contacted, his lawyer did not wish to react.
The case, strongly contested by Jean-Luc Mélenchon and his party, began with a report to justice on March 16, 2018 from the National Campaign Accounts Commission (CNCCFP).
She wondered about services possibly overcharged by "
The People's Era
" and by the consulting company Mediascop, headed by Sophia Chikirou, close to the party leader.
Three weeks after the eventful search of October 16, 2018, the prosecution opened on November 8 a judicial investigation, in particular for "
fraud and attempted fraud
", "
breach of trust
", "
non-compliant keeping
" of campaign accounts and "
illicit loan of labor
”.
To read also: Campaign accounts: Jean-Luc Mélenchon anticipates “twists and turns”
Since then, the investigation, slowed down by the business of the search, has focused on dissecting the expenses of the campaign, starting with those of "
the People's Era
", a think tank that has become a campaign provider. .
In July 2019, rebellious deputies Mathilde Panot and Bastien Lachaud had been heard as ex-employees of the “
Era of the People
” by the police officers of the Central Office for the fight against corruption and financial and fiscal offenses ( OCLCIFF).
Bernard Pignerol was in turn questioned in the offices of the office in Nanterre in July 2020, according to sources familiar with the matter.
"
All of the accounting elements from 2016 to 2019 (suitcases of binders) were handed over to the investigators,
" the entourage of Camp Mélenchon told AFP this fall, which highlights its "
total collaboration
".
A second judicial investigation, opened on the same date as the first, this time for "
embezzlement of public funds
", relates to the employment of assistants of MEPs from LFI.
