This Friday morning, the prosecutor Michaël Bonnet requested a conviction for all the defendants. It is obviously against Max-André Pick and Pascal Legrand that the most severe penalties were required: 18 months in prison including 12 closed and 6 suspended, 20,000 euros fine, one ineligibility
three years and a ban on public service for five years.
As such, the prosecutor did not distinguish between Max-André Pick and Pascal Legrand. However, the second did not personally benefit from the fraud scheme and did not want to repeat it, when Max-André Pick recreated a second micro-party. The prosecutor also wants the court to confiscate 110,000 euros in seized assets.
18 months suspended sentence required for Guillaume Delbar
Against Guillaume Delbar, the prosecutor is asking for an 18-month suspended prison sentence, three years ineligibility and a fine of 5,000 euros. Against his wife Caroline, the prosecutor requested a six-month suspended prison sentence, a 3,000 euro fine and a three-year ineligibility sentence.
Yesterday, the mayor of Roubaix and his wife tried to convince them that they were not aware of the existence of this tax exemption system and that the 11,000 euros received from the screen association Les Amis Citoyens Engagés (ACE) were just expense reimbursements. They failed to convince the prosecutor on this point. The penalty required against Guillaume Delbar is heavy, even though the amounts in question (11,000 euros in reimbursement) are much lower than for other defendants and he did not create the disputed associations. The mayor of Roubaix undoubtedly pays the fact of being the most visible figure of the file. It must be said that the councilor should have known the functioning of the different parties and associations.
However, while he accused Guillaume Delbar yesterday of not having declared his elected income in 2015, the prosecutor had to retract today in the face of documents produced by the Delbar couple. In addition, the prosecutor does not repeat the accusations against Caroline Delbar concerning the 2020 campaign during which checks intended for Roubaix Avenir had been paid to campaign accounts. Caroline Delbar’s responses clearly seemed more convincing.
First decision on December 2
In comparison, the departmental councilor Karima Zouggagh is rather spared. While she has benefited much more from this scheme of fraud and has even actively participated in it (by creating the 3F association), the prosecutor is only asking for a 12-month suspended sentence for her, 2,000 euros. fine, ineligibility of 2 years and 20,000 euros for confiscation.
Unlike other family members and friends of Pick, Delbar and Zouggagh, prosecutor Bonnet has requested mostly six months suspended prison sentence, fines and three years ineligibility.
The court will render a first decision on procedural matters on December 2 – lawyers for the defendants criticize in particular the prosecutions for aggravated fraud against the tax authorities, and not for tax evasion, which is the offense specifically foreseen. Then he will decide on the bottom.
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