Marseille – Facts-divers – Investigation into the “Petit Bar” gang: medical expertise for the alleged leader

Heard on Maritima Radio. The alleged leader of the “Petit Bar” criminal gang, Jacques Santoni, severely disabled since 2003, must undergo a new medical examination to ensure that his new detention is compatible with his state of health, the Marseille prosecutor said on Monday.

Jacques Santoni, “suspected of being at the head of this team”, was arrested on Sunday January 10 in Paris and then placed in “medical custody in a hospital in Paris” before being indicted Thursday, for extortion and money laundering in an organized gang and criminal association, by investigating judges of the interregional jurisdiction specialized (Jirs) in organized crime in Marseille.

A previous medical expertise having concluded “to an incompatibility of his condition with ordinary detention”, the investigating magistrates ordered the transfer of Mr. Santoni to the Fresnes remand center, a “specialized establishment” in the Paris region where he can receive “appropriate care”, specifies Dominique Laurens, the prosecutor of the Republic of Marseille, in a press release.

In the investigation of “laundering of illicit activities” of the “Petit Bar” gang, “open for over a year”, 20 other people, in addition to Mr. Santoni, were arrested on January 10 in Ajaccio and Paris, during a “large-scale operation” carried out by 180 soldiers of the national gendarmerie helped in particular by the GIGN. Nine people, including Jacques Santoni, were indicted.

Among these people belonging to the circle close to the alleged members of the Petit Bar -companies and family- is the heavyweight of real estate construction in Corsica, president of the federation of construction of Corse-du-Sud and former CEO of Corse-Matin, Antony Perrino, who has been arraigned for organized gang laundering, abuse of social property and conspiracy. The contractor was placed under judicial control.

The investigation allowed “to highlight cash handling, numerous international financial movements as well as suspicious real estate investments, all involving sums greatly exceeding the declared income of the accused”, said the prosecutor of Marseille.

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