This Tuesday, the mayor of Toulon and former minister Hubert Falco appears before the sixth chamber of the Marseille criminal court alongside the former president of the Var departmental council Marc Giraud for embezzlement of public funds and concealment. Hubert Falco is accused of having benefited from the services of the county council, in particular meals prepared by the cooks of the community, when he had not chaired the institution for a long time. 20 minutes takes stock of this “fridge” affair which caused controversy in the Var, with, in the background, the suicide of one of the whistleblowers.
What are the facts ?
Hubert Falco is accused exactly of concealment of property from subtraction and, misappropriation or destruction of property from a public deposit between April 2, 2015 and December 31, 2018. The mayor of Toulon and former Secretary of State of Nicolas Sarkozy, today he displayed support for Emmanuel Macron, is suspected of having eaten meals in the cafeteria of the Var departmental council between 2015 and 2018.
It all started in 2016, as reported by Mediapart in an article on the subject published in June 2022. Departmental council officials reported a situation which they considered abnormal to the general secretary of the Unsa union within the departmental council, Faouzia Mehazem. These officials frequented the cafeteria of the institution, and saw the former minister having lunch there, alone, at the same table, at the back of the refectory. However, Hubert Falco had not been president of the community since 2002. Others say that one of the cooks of the county council is assigned full time to the service of Hubert Falco. A fridge would even be dedicated to the mayor of Toulon and his wife, with meals prepared in advance for evenings and weekends inside.
For food costs alone, the police estimate that Hubert Falco embezzled 1,500 euros per month. He is also accused of having benefited from a public contract between the county council and a dry cleaning company to wash his personal linen, in particular his tank tops, his socks or his pajamas.
As for Marc Giraud, he is suspected of having allowed Hubert Falco to benefit from his advantages while he was at the head of the departmental council, and therefore finds himself accused of subtraction, misappropriation or destruction of property from a public deposit. . In this case, the Unsa union and the Anticor association have joined as civil parties. “We can only be struck by this ability for a major elected official like Mr. Falco to use the services of a community for a long time in full view of everyone without anyone asking the question, is surprised Alain-David Pothet, Anticor’s lawyer in this case. Some say we bother Monsieur Falco for three lettuce leaves. It’s not true! He had a fridge dedicated to him! It puzzles me to see how a seasoned politician cannot understand for years that such behavior is abnormal. »
Who disclosed the affair?
The first alert to justice was made on January 1, 2019 by the secretary general of Unsa within the departmental council, who seized the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office on the basis of article 40 of the code of criminal procedure, which obliges all civil servants having knowledge of possible criminal acts to denounce them.
On October 16, 2019, The chained Duck reveals the case to the general public in an article entitled “The frozen secrets of Hubert Falco’s fridge. “Two days later, in the columns of Var-MorningHubert Falco’s lawyer, Me Thierry Fradet, announces that he will file a complaint for slanderous denunciation.
On February 26, 2020, the chef of the Var departmental council was heard by investigators from the Marseille financial brigade. He tells the investigators of the operation he would have witnessed which allowed Hubert Falco to benefit from a butler and a cook from the community at his exclusive service. On February 28, 2020, two days later, the secretary general of Unsa within the departmental council filed a complaint for repeated death threats, after having received anonymous threatening letters.
On March 11, 2020, less than a fortnight after being interviewed by investigators, the chef of the departmental council was found dead, hanged on his terrace in the heights of Toulon. He is wearing a T-shirt with the logo of the Var departmental council.
What are the defendants saying?
“I believe that my client is more of a witness than a defendant in this case,” says Marc Giraud’s lawyer, Me Jean-Claude Guidicelli. I find it a little ridiculous, even shabby and pitiful to come and take part in a debate during which he is going to be asked: “Mr. President, why did you accept that the former president of the county council come to eat in the council cafeteria? departmental, whose meal tray costs two euros?” He believed that it was a custom that the former presidents of the general council come to eat. All he did was perpetuate a form of republican tradition. And it is curious that the custom turns into a crime. Contacted, Hubert Falco’s lawyer did not respond to our requests