It was a report from Tracfin, Bercy’s financial intelligence unit, which triggered the investigations. An investigation has been opened against LFI deputy Carlos Martens Bilongo for suspicion of money laundering, tax evasion and abuse of corporate assets, the Pontoise public prosecutor’s office announced on Thursday, confirming information from BFM TV.
“While he declared that he received no remuneration from his companies with the HATVP, Carlos Martens Bilongo nevertheless, according to Tracfin, received various transfers to his bank accounts”, explains BFMTV. According to the chain, the 32-year-old rebellious is suspected of having concealed just under 200,000 euros from the authorities over a period ranging from 2018 to 2022 and is the subject of a procedure opened in mid-April. The person concerned told BFMTV that he was not aware of anything and that he was going to take stock with his accountant.
Publication of his first book
The Pontoise public prosecutor’s office did not wish to provide more details on the investigation, also opened on the grounds of failure to report to the High Authority for the Transparency of Public Life (HATVP). The black deputy found himself in the news last November when the RN deputy for Gironde Grégoire de Fournas cut one of his speeches by launching “Let him return to Africa! “, provoking an incident of a rare magnitude at the Palais-Bourbon. The condemnations of the rest of the political class are unanimous, even to the Head of State “hit” by “intolerable words”.
Carlos Martens Bilongo has also made a name for himself for his positions alongside environmental defense associations which denounce the project for a station of the future Grand Paris metro on the Triangle de Gonesse. The announcement of the opening of the investigation comes on the day of the publication of his first book, Black French at Philippe Rey editions, testimony on “its history made up of struggles, survival strategies, intelligence on the ground”.