A tax official was killed on Tuesday after being kidnapped with a colleague as part of a tax audit at a second-hand dealer in Bullecourt (Pas-de-Calais), who then killed himself.
“This man was simply doing his job (…) Today, he did not come back. He was killed as part of this tax audit, “said the Minister of Public Accounts, Gabriel Attal, who spoke in the middle of the evening before the Senate.
The victim, a 43-year-old man, was head of the verification brigade in Pas-de-Calais, he said. The man was killed “several stab wounds”, had previously indicated a source close to the investigation. “A woman, tax inspector”, was also found at the home of the junk dealer, “tied to a chair and deeply shocked”, added this source.
The junk dealer for his part “committed suicide”, indicated a second source close to the investigation, according to which the public finance officer and his colleague were sequestered at the home of the junk dealer. “At the time of the arrival of the gendarmes, the two men were dead”, she specified, stressing that the gendarmerie had been warned “by a witness”. The research section of the Hauts-de-France gendarmerie was seized.
“Unspeakable Drama”
“His colleagues from the departmental directorate of public finances in Pas-de-Calais and more generally all public finance officers are upset and in mourning tonight,” said Gabriel Attal, referring to “an unspeakable tragedy”. He said he would be there on Tuesday morning. “Tonight, the public service has the face of this brigade leader”, he insisted, before inviting a moment of meditation “in his homage”.
Called around 7:00 p.m., the firefighters confirmed at the start of the evening “two deceased in Bullecourt and one injured, about to be transported”, specifying that the intervention was “still in progress”. Around 11:00 p.m., the gendarmes were still deployed in the village of Bullecourt, deserted that evening, blocking the street from the second-hand dealer’s home, noted an AFP journalist. The village of 250 inhabitants is located south of Arras.
The public prosecutor of Arras was to publish a press release in the evening. Contacted by AFP, the mayor of the city, the prefecture and the gendarmes did not respond pending this communication from the prosecution.