Four car dealerships and their manager were sentenced in early January to 825,000 euros in cumulative fines for having taken part in a “major fraud” intended to circumvent the ecological penalty on the most polluting vehicles, the Marseille prosecutor’s office said on Thursday. .
In addition to the fine of 25,000 euros which he personally received, the manager of these four car dealerships, which belong to the same group, was also sentenced to twelve months in prison suspended and two years of deprivation of the right of eligibility. , according to the press release from the prosecution, which specifies that “the total amount of the confiscations pronounced” on January 10 amounts to 3.1 million euros.
“Mass Fraud”
The five defendants – the head of the company and the four companies as legal persons -, all tried for “acts of fraud committed to the detriment of a public person”, were accused of having engaged in ” fraudulent maneuvers to evade the payment of the malus tax on the most polluting vehicles marketed by the concessions”, detailed the same source.
A “massive fraud” which consisted of “falsely registering these vehicles under a special tax exemption regime”, developed the prosecution. The so-called “ecological bonus-malus” system was introduced following the “Grenelle de l’environnement” of 2007 to “encourage purchasers of passenger cars to opt for the most low-carbon dioxide (CO2) vehicles” , which are “favoured by an aid to the acquisition”, recalls the prosecution.