Embezzlement of funds: judgment expected on 30 September for Ary Chalus
The Paris District Court will hand down its judgment on 30 September in the Ary Chalus case, president of the Guadeloupe Regional Council who is facing prosecution for embezzlement of public funds.
Judgment on 30 September for Regional Council president Ary Chalus
The Paris District Court will hand down its decision on Wednesday 30 September at 13:30 in the Ary Chalus case, according to guadeloupe.franceantilles.fr. After three days of hearings and more than six hours of submissions, the court has adjourned the proceedings against the president of the Guadeloupe Regional Council, who is facing prosecution notably for embezzlement of public funds.
The National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) has called for three years' imprisonment with suspension, a fine of €100,000 and five years' ineligibility with immediate effect, as well as a ban from holding any public office for five years. The prosecution has also requested that the conviction be posted at the relevant town hall and published for two months in several media outlets.
Ary Chalus's daughter, Nathalia Chalus, who is being prosecuted for receiving stolen goods in connection with embezzlement of public funds, faces six months' imprisonment with suspension and a fine of €25,000 according to the public prosecutor's submissions.
In response to these demands, the three lawyers for the Regional Council president argued that this was not a case of embezzlement but a succession of administrative errors. "We acknowledge errors," summed up Maître Samuel Sauphanor, arguing that "the penalties are beyond reason" and calling for the complete acquittal of Nathalia Chalus and a partial acquittal for his client.
Maître Charlotte Fichel-Brenner stressed the evolution of the rules applicable to official expenses. "He may have been in error, an error of judgment, but not in embezzlement of public funds," she argued, also raising the question of the limitation period for some of the facts. The defence also denounced "a considerable absence of evidence" and dysfunctions in administrative controls.
An unusual moment during this final day of hearings: Maître Sauphanor handed over a cheque for €25,286.57 to Maître Antoine Marchand, lawyer for the National Assembly. According to the defence, this sum corresponds to expenditure that Ary Chalus now acknowledges as irregular, whilst contesting most of the PNF's accusations. For Maître Marchand, this gesture constitutes "a form of acknowledgement of a certain number of irregularities", while recalling that the amounts contested by the prosecution are in no way comparable to this repayment.
Called upon to speak last, Ary Chalus was visibly moved. "I was born into a family of seven children without a father. I will continue to be kind. If I have to take blows so that others can succeed, I will take blows," he declared before the court.
Upon leaving the courtroom, he strongly contested the PNF's submissions. "My conscience is clear. I have not cheated. There has been no personal enrichment," he stated, arguing that the proceedings had demonstrated the legality of many of the expenses in question.
The court now has three months in which to hand down its judgment, whose political consequences for the Guadeloupe Regional Council could prove considerable.
Source: Google News GP — Crime