Former Socialist Secretary of State Thierry Mandon will be tried on June 20 for “scams” and “attempted embezzlement of public property”, of which he is suspected in his former functions at the Cité du design in Saint-Étienne (Loire) , the prosecution said on Thursday.
He will also have to answer before the criminal court for “forgery and use of forged documents” and “misuse of corporate assets”, said Saint-Étienne prosecutor David Charmatz.
Thierry Mandon, 66, was appointed in 2018 general director of the Cité du design, a public establishment inaugurated in 2009 devoted to art and research.
He resigned in October 2022, citing “personal reasons”, while the structure was facing financial difficulties.
Maximum sentence of 10 years in prison
Noting a deficit of 1.4 million euros, the president of the City, Marc Chassaubéné, also deputy for culture of Saint-Étienne, had requested an audit from a law firm, on the basis of which he then accused Thierry Mandon for having presented an insincere budget and misappropriated funds “via false invoices and false certificates”.
Evoking a “careless mistake”, Me André Buffard, Mandon's lawyer, affirmed that his client had repaid 22,000 euros in overpayments.
But justice had opened an investigation, entrusted to the Rhône Financial Crime Brigade, and Thierry Mandon had been “placed in police custody on June 13 and 14,” said the prosecutor.
He faces a “maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of one million euros for the attempted misappropriation of public property”.
The former socialist mayor of Ris-Orangis (from 1995 to 2012), who became deputy for Essonne then secretary of state for state reform and simplification (from 2014 to 2015), also secretary of state for Higher Education and Research (from 2015 to 2017) under the presidency of François Hollande also launched the short-lived Ebdo magazine in 2018. Since June, he has been secretary general of the National Commerce Council, chaired by the head of government .