A Veolia employee who “wanted to be of service” and his wife were found guilty of having tampered with numerous Linky meters in the Alès region, reveals Midi Libre, Saturday June 8.
A 37-year-old man, an employee of Veolia, appeared on Friday June 7 before the Alès criminal court for having rigged the consumption of Linky meters, reports Free Midday, Saturday June 8. The man, accused of fraud, installed an electricity bypass on green meters to reduce the amount of electricity bills by more than half. To do this, he asked for 250 to 500 euros in cash. Justice was alerted by Enedis, the power distributor, who filed a complaint after having recorded numerous alerts when meters were opened.
During the investigation, the police seized 70,000 euros from his account and an Audi Q7 worth 30,000 euros. Income that questions the prosecution: “With 1,800 euros of salary per month, 3,000 euros of allowances and more than 2,000 euros of expenses, how can we save 3,000 euros per month to reach 70,000 euros? Some months, no food expenses appear on the account statements. So that’s how you live on cash.” During his trial, the thirty-year-old admitted to having worked undeclared and to having installed 20 to 30 diversions to “do a service”. To justify the money seized, the couple claimed that it was “personal savings, family help and various associations for our disabled child.”
The man was sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of 5,000 euros.
After studying the file, and despite much heavier requisitions from the magistrate, the defendant was sentenced to one year in prison in the form of an electronic bracelet, as well as a fine of 5,000 euros. His wife, accused of having taken advantage of financial resources to improve her lifestyle, received a three-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 2,000 euros, reports Midi Libre. Finally, 12,000 euros are confiscated. The court ruled that the rest of the 70,000 euros and their Audi Q7 will have to be returned.
published on June 9 at 8:16 a.m., Emma Allamand, 6Medias