In 2012, candidate for a second term, Nicolas Sarkozy is not the favorite in the polls.
The President of the Republic declares himself in February, with the objective of a lightning campaign.
A few dozen meetings and meetings later, he lost the game against François Hollande.
Then the Constitutional Council sanctions the unsuccessful candidate for exceeding the authorized ceiling (22.5 million euros for the second round) to the tune of just over 300,000 €.
Provisional end of the story.
Read also: Bygmalion case: the Court of Cassation validates the referral to correctional Nicolas Sarkozy
Two years later, the press revealed that the overrun actually amounted to some 22 million.
In tears, Jérôme Lavrilleux, former deputy director of the outgoing president's campaign, goes to confession on BFMTV.
He admits to having participated in a vast scam based on false invoices, undervalued expenses and expenses intentionally omitted from the accounts submitted for final control.
The goal: to win the candidate of the right, whatever the cost.
Who orchestrated the fraudulent overfunding?
According to the instruction given to judges Tournaire, Van Ruymbeke and Le Loire,
“there is nothing to involve Jean-François Copé, secretary general of the UMP, nor the candidate Nicolas Sarkozy in the implementation of this system of false invoicing ”
.
The order for reference, however, points to
"massive fraud implemented to hide the true cost of the services of Event & Cie
(subsidiary of Bygmalion)
"
.
It is clear that Mr. Lavrilleux is the chief of staff of Mr. Cope, and that the companies of the Bygmalion group involved in the scheming are headed by relatives of the ambitious mayor of Meaux.
Hence the lead suggested by the Sarkozy camp: the money stolen did not contribute to the presidential election, because the secretary general and future president of the UMP took advantage, among other things, of it to build up a treasure of war.
But the investigating judges did not find any
"indication of complicity or coaction"
of Mr. Cope, who has never been indicted.
They also did not gather a bundle of serious, precise and concordant clues allowing them to prosecute, as had been envisaged, Mr. Sarkozy for the charges of using forgery, fraud to the detriment of control bodies and breach of trust to the detriment of the UMP.
Remains a referral to correctional for violation of the article of the electoral code relating to ceilings, punishable by one year in prison and a fine of € 3,750.
Note that only Judge Tournaire signed the order for reference: Renaud Van Ruymbeke considered that the charges were insufficient and disassociated himself from his colleague - Roger Le Loire was no longer in charge of the investigation at this stage .
How could a fraud of such an astronomical amount have escaped informed personalities like Jean-François Copé and Nicolas Sarkozy?
Perhaps the court will establish it.
Thirteen other defendants
Sentenced on March 1 to 3 years in prison, one of which was closed in the context of the so-called Paul Bismuth wiretapping affair - he immediately appealed - the former head of state must now face a new legal test.
His historical counsel, Me Thierry Herzog, also convicted in the Bismuth case and also presumed innocent since he appealed, will assist him.
To read also: Nicolas Sarkozy: "I cannot accept to have been condemned for what I did not do"
Thirteen other defendants are called to appear, including Jérôme Lavrilleux, Franck Attal, Guy Alvès and Bastien Millot, leaders of the Bygmalion group, Guillaume Lambert, campaign director of the outgoing president, and Eric Césari, general manager of the UMP.
Jean-François Copé was called as a witness.
The hearing was to open this Wednesday, scheduled to end on April 15 at the rate of four afternoons per week.
But Mr. Lavrilleux's lawyer, the renowned criminal lawyer Christian Saint-Palais, is currently hospitalized and therefore cannot assist his client: the court will examine a request for referral to which the Paris prosecutor's office will not oppose.
If she upholds it, as seems likely, the trial could start only on May 10, 17 or 24, 2021.