A sixty-year-old from Gironde embezzled nearly 120,000 euros which belonged to his grandson of whom he was the legal guardian, reveals Sud Ouest.
The Bordeaux criminal court tried him for breach of trust to the detriment of a vulnerable person on Tuesday January 16.
Their family was decimated in a road accident in Dordogne in 2004. The little boy's parents, his brother and his unborn sister were killed instantly.
The boy, then 2 years old, is the only survivor.
His grandfather is responsible for his education.
Following the tragedy, the courts set up a compensation procedure for the child and his grandfather, direct and indirect victims of the accident.
Several payments addressed by name are paid over the years.
“One day I received a big check made out to me.
I cashed it even though it wasn't meant for me.
It’s my stupidity, my monumental error,” admitted the defendant.
In total, he embezzled 118,000 euros.
“We don’t make the same mistake five times”
Loan to a loved one, purchase of vehicles for a friend... over the years, the sixty-year-old has greatly benefited from the sums.
“I was in a catastrophic psychological situation, I could not bear the pain of losing my daughter,” he defended.
“I lost my footing.
I no longer knew who the checks were for,” he added.
It was only in 2021 that his then partner discovered the maneuver.
This woman has since been designated as the grandson's guardian.
Now an adult, the orphan, who became a runaway as a teenager, went adrift and became involved in delinquency.
Civil party lawyer Thibault Laforcade regrets that the grandfather has “not a word of affection” for his grandson.
“He talks about an error, but you don’t make the same mistake five times,” snaps the lawyer.
If the deputy prosecutor did not underestimate the grandfather's grief after the loss of his daughter, she believes that he failed in his role as an adult towards the child.
“You plucked it, robbed it,” judged Sylvie Rodrigues.
She did not sentence him, but forced him to repay the sums.
He has twelve months to do so.