The former senator and president of French Polynesia Gaston Flosse was sentenced Wednesday in Paris to six months in prison, convertible into house arrest with an electronic bracelet, for "incomplete or false declaration" of his heritage and his interests.
Gaston Flosse, 90, was absent from the judgment statement at the Paris judicial court.
He was prosecuted for having failed to declare a substantial part of his assets to the High Authority for the Transparency of Public Life (HATVP) in his declaration of end of mandate, on November 12, 2014.
"The court took into consideration several elements" in its judgment, declared its president, before listing them: "the nature of the offense, because it seriously undermines the transparency of public life, but also of the magnitude of the omission - greater than 1.45 million euros - and the personality of the accused, the criminal record of the accused, who has already been the subject of a sentence of ineligibility and is no longer eligible for the suspension , and the limited risk of reiteration ”.
"The court sentences him to six months' imprisonment, which can be converted into a home under electronic surveillance"
These included the shares of the former Polynesian president in a real estate company (SIC) for an amount of 990,000 euros, the balance of a retirement savings account of 221,000 euros, 138 tables estimated at a total of 240,000 euros and a sum of 125,000 euros that he would have received for a claim. In its judgment, the court sentenced him to six months' imprisonment, suitable for conversion to home under electronic surveillance, and a fine of 45,000 euros, for incomplete or false declaration to the HATVP concerning all sums except that of 125,000 euros, estimating that it has not been established that it was concealed.
Gaston Flosse is experiencing many legal troubles: he had already been sentenced by the Papeete Court of Appeal to two years in prison, a fine of around 83,000 euros, and five years of ineligibility for embezzlement of public funds.
At the beginning of September, the prosecution had requested against Gaston Flosse a one-year prison sentence and a fine of 45,000 euros, with a home arrangement under electronic surveillance "given his age", and ineligibility of five years.
Gaston Flosse's lawyer, Me François Quinquis, had recognized "an error", "an oversight on his part" but no fraudulent intention on the part of his client.
