The Paris Court of Appeal on Tuesday sentenced Henri Plagnol to six months' suspended imprisonment in the case of false invoices emanating from a subsidiary of Bygmalion, when he headed the town hall of Saint-Maur-des-Fossés ( Val de Marne).
In March 2022, the Court of Cassation ordered a third trial against the man who was Secretary of State under Jacques Chirac (2002-2004), for complicity in embezzlement of public funds.
The court of appeal reclassified the facts as
“negligent misappropriation”
, explaining on Tuesday that it was
“a lack of supervision”
and
“not a positive act on the part”
of Henri Plagnol.
The former various right-wing (ex-UMP) councilor (from 2008 to 2014) was sentenced in March 2021 by the Paris Court of Appeal to one year of suspended imprisonment, a fine of 8,000 euros and three years of imprisonment. ineligibility for having endorsed a system of false invoices.
His chief of staff was sentenced to 10 months suspended sentence and a fine of 3,000 euros for embezzlement of public funds and use of forgery.
They filed a cassation appeal.
On Tuesday, the court of appeal sentenced them both to a six-month suspended sentence, as well as paying nearly 226,000 euros in damages to the municipality of Saint-Maur.
Six disputed invoices
Michaël Doulikan, counsel to Henri Plagnol, welcomed an
“honorable”
judgment which notes the absence of “the existence of a corruptive”
and
“fraudulent”
pact
.
During his trial at first instance, Henri Plagnol had claimed a political conspiracy, fomented according to him by Sylvain Berrios, his former rebellious deputy who succeeded him as head of town hall in 2014. It was the latter who, in 2013 , when he had just won his seat as deputy from Henri Plagnol, had denounced a communications deal between the town of Saint-Maur and the Idéepôle agency, a subsidiary of Bygmalion.
A company run by relatives of Jean-François Copé and which was then implicated in the affair of Nicolas Sarkozy's campaign accounts.
Between 2009 and 2013, Saint-Maur paid around sixty invoices to Idéepôle.
Among them, six were disputed, for almost 280,000 euros of questionable expenses.
The documents, which some officials refused to sign, concerned municipal guides, billed with surpluses for
“emergency costs”
or
“post-creation advice”
which were difficult to justify.
In the so-called
“Bygmalion”
trial on the illegal financing of Nicolas Sarkozy's lost presidential campaign in 2012, 14 people were convicted at first instance by the Paris criminal court, including the former head of state (one year of prison).
On appeal, the latter was sentenced to one year's imprisonment, six of which were suspended, and he indicated that he would appeal to the Court of Cassation.