The Versailles prosecutor's office required a trial for four ushers and an elected official in the racketeering affair of traders in one of the most important markets in the Paris region, that of Val-Fourré in Mantes-La-Jolie (Yvelines). According to the indictment known to AFP on Wednesday, July 21, four ushers are accused of having carried out a "
racketeering (which) took the form of a systematic and large-scale tip system
", in exchange for which they provided a form of "
protection
" and provided a "
good location
" in this vast market located about sixty kilometers west of Paris, in the popular district of Val-Fourré.
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Sidi El Haimer, first deputy mayor of Mantes-la-Jolie, is accused of having indirectly, in 2018, pushed traders denouncing this racketeering to withdraw their statements.
The prosecution requested his dismissal for “
witness tampering
”, an offense punishable by three years' imprisonment.
Sidi El Haimer "
fiercely denies any involvement
", told AFP his lawyer Alexandre Simonin, affirming that the elected official "
has always surveyed the land of Mantes-la-Jolie, as close as possible to its inhabitants, with a high idea of the general interest
”.
An offense punishable by seven years' imprisonment
After eight years of investigation, the prosecution describes a racketeering that lasted "
several years
", which forced a merchant to pay "up
to double the price per linear meter
" for a site.
In 2018, when the market moved, the sums would have reached several thousand euros.
The prosecution requests that the four ushers be tried for extortion, an offense punishable by seven years' imprisonment.
It also requires the continued detention of two of them until the trial in order to “
avoid any risk of pressure
” on the traders.
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The investigators rely in particular on testimonies from traders, interceptions of telephone lines and a dozen anonymous letters, written between 2013 and 2019, which describe "
identical facts
" and "
a climate of terror
". The study of the ushers' overseas bank accounts also revealed "
the cashing in of large sums of money in cash
." For his part, the lawyer of an usher, Frédéric Landon, castigates an “
artificial file
”. "
My client and the others indicted have never been confronted with traders who claim to have been racketeered
", he laments in particular to AFP.
