Philippe Bouvard's apartment burgled during his funeral: €20,000 to €30,000 stolen
Thieves stole between €20,000 and €30,000 from Philippe Bouvard's home on the day of his funeral in Cannes. France Info alerts to this widespread modus operandi.
Burglary during Philippe Bouvard's funeral: a phenomenon that extends beyond celebrities
On Monday 31 August, whilst relatives and members of the public paid their final respects to Philippe Bouvard in the church Notre-Dame de Bon Voyage in Cannes, one or more individuals broke into the journalist's apartment, situated less than a kilometre away. France Info reports that the family discovered, after the ceremony, that a safe had been emptied of its contents: between €20,000 and €30,000 in banknotes. No signs of forced entry were found.
The news provoked indignation from neighbours. "What's happening is awful, it's a catastrophe," one of them confided. "It's someone who knew about it, who was aware of everything, it's not possible," another resident assured. A third resident added: "It's absurd, you wonder where the world is going, because really, it's unthinkable."
A documented modus operandi that also affects ordinary families
Theft committed during a funeral is not a practice isolated to public figures. Many incidents relayed by the local press bear witness to this, such as this headline: "Serial burglaries during the funeral of the eldest resident: he follows the widow and burgled her during the burial."
In July last, a 58-year-old man was arrested after having meticulously recorded in a notebook the addresses of homes and the times of several funerals. This information, he had collected by consulting death notices published in the local press—a simple method that illustrates the vulnerability of grieving families.
Authorities call for caution
Bruno Bartocetti, national secretary of the union Un1té-SGP-Police FO, formulates two concrete recommendations. "One must avoid publicising the precise address of the deceased when placing the announcement in local press," he advises. He also suggests "leaving someone at home, but in a visible manner, so that burglars do not find themselves face to face with someone inside."
This latter precaution aims to discourage thieves without exposing them to direct contact with an occupant, which could worsen the situation.
A preventive measure adopted since 2019 in Hérault
Jean-Pierre Rico (UDI), mayor of Pérols in Hérault, has implemented since 2019 a systematic arrangement: municipal police officers are tasked with monitoring the homes of residents at the time of their funerals. "I am not making this a political matter, I am simply making it a matter of preventing families and also preventing distress when a loved one passes away, not to add pain to pain," he explained.
This measure proves particularly effective in rural areas, where the density of video surveillance cameras remains low, limiting the possibilities of identifying or deterring the perpetrators of such thefts.
Source: France Info