On the second day of the Ikea trial, suspected of having
"flirted"
employees and customers in a
"quasi-industrial" way
, the Versailles criminal court was particularly interested in the specific case of the Vedene-Avignon store (Vaucluse) .
This establishment opened in August 2010;
between March and November of the same year, 167 employees were the subject of illegal searches, recalled the president of the court.
The store was then run by Patrick S., who was fired from the company in June 2011.
Read also: Suspected of having "fled" employees and customers, Ikea facing justice
At the helm this Tuesday, March 23, Patrick S. admits having sent lists of names to Jean-François P., the director of Ikea's risk management department.
According to him, this was a common practice in the company.
“Basically, the request was made by the risk management department.
Within the framework of all the openings, Jean-François P. asked that the collaborators be controlled ”
, indicates the sixty-year-old.
The subject was, however, raised only with Jean-François P., never with the latter's assistant Sylvie W., nor with other store managers, adds Patrick S.
"The wolf in the sheepfold"
"Contrary to everything that has been mentioned so far"
at the hearing, notes the president, Patrick S. also acknowledges having sent requests for criminal record searches directly to two police commanders, his cousin
"to the third degree "
Alain S. and Régis O.
" I said to myself: 'Why go through Jean-François P. when I can do it through Alain?' "
, confides the defendant, explaining that his
" obsession was to bring in the wolf in the sheepfold ”
and that he was particularly worried about the risks associated with
“ drugs and trafficking ”
.
Read also: Ikea trial: the hunt for responsibilities
On April 28, 2010, Patrick S. therefore wrote to Alain S. and Régis O.:
“Hello to you, could you take a look at this list please?
Thank you in advance.
See you, Patrick ”
.
In the body of the email, which he transfers the next day to the security manager of the Fabrice C. store, there is a list of first names, surnames, places and dates of birth.
On June 15, Patrick S. writes again to Alain S .:
“Hi Alain, can you take a look at this - a priori - last list please?”,
Then ends with
“a little word in Corsican”
and sign
“ Patriziu ”
.
"Names to proscribe"
It is attested that the two officials carried out research.
Régis O., who is not indicted in this case, thus admitted to having consulted the Stic (the old computerized police file, Editor's note) concerning seven employees.
For his part, Alain S. has consulted the Stic on more than 200 times concerning 151 employees or candidates, recalls the president.
He notably replied to his cousin by email that there were
"five names to be banned"
.
Absent at the hearing, he admitted the facts during the investigation.
Read also: Employees spied on: the Ikea case is far from the only one ...
The investigation also showed that the store's security manager, Fabrice C., carried out parallel research using his
“own network” -
“
so-called network!
», He specifies - in this case another police commander and his deputy.
Fabrice C. emphasizes that he acted in this way
“once”
on
“order”
from his
“boss”
Patrick S. From Fabrice C. to Patrick S., from Patrick S. to Jean-François P., from Jean -François P. at the general management: the court gradually goes up the hierarchical levels to the ex-leaders of Ikea France, who will be questioned Thursday after a day of break.