December 2020. The health crisis is still weighing on small businesses. The state extends aid. Except that some entrepreneurs have used it without being entitled to it. The public finance department has finally realized this. The reports are flourishing.
A Thionvillois, self-employed in building cleaning, was notably pinned. The 47-year-old man, without an employee, not receiving an audience, made two requests on December 14 and 19, 2020 when he did not meet the conditions for granting. He took the opportunity to inflate his turnover. In total, he received 20,000 euros which he has since spent. He began to repay, slowly but surely. However, fraud is also a criminal offence.
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Administrative weakness?
The state judicial officer seized the public prosecutor. The autoentrepreneur was prosecuted before the Thionville Criminal Court on Tuesday, June 14. He did not come to the stand. His lawyer, Me Thomas Kremser, was responsible for rewinding the film and pointing out administrative inconsistencies. “The service request was filled out with the code that corresponded to my client’s activity,” recalls the council. “There is therefore a problem with the functioning of these computer files. »
Me Kremser maintains that in the absence of an intentional element, the offense is not established. He adds that the defendant, a member of the Traveler community, offers his services door-to-door, that he speaks French badly, that he cannot read or write. “No investigation has been carried out to find out if he was capable of undertaking such steps,” he points out. It is a third person who would have offered to recover his Siret number, his RIB and who would have made the request online.
But the court sanctions and pronounces two months of suspended prison sentence and 500 euros of criminal fine against the defendant.
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Four cases in one week
His case is far from isolated. This Tuesday, another man appeared for the same fraud, the same amount. He was absent, without a lawyer to represent him. The deputy prosecutor of Thionville recalled that he took advantage of the money received to travel. He received a three-month suspended prison sentence. He will also have to pay a fine of 1,000 euros, including 750 suspended. Not to mention the 20,000 euros that he will also have to reimburse to the State.
The list will stretch. Two defendants, prosecuted in turn for having made false Covid statements, are summoned this Thursday before the Thionville Criminal Court.
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