The deputy LFI Carlos Martens Bilongo is the subject of an investigation for “suspicions of laundering of tax evasion” and “abuse of corporate assets”, announced Thursday the Pontoise prosecutor’s office. The announcement of the opening of the investigation comes on the day of the publication of the first book of the chosen one, Black French (Ed. Philippe Rey), testimony of a “kid from Villiers-le-Bel” on “his story made up of struggles, survival strategies, intelligence on the ground”. “I am this 32-year-old young man, an associative activist in working-class neighborhoods. I know I bother! Because I am this Black at work in the greatest French institutions”, he writes in conclusion. Here are three questions about this affair of which the young elected official says he ignores everything.
Who is Carlos Martens Bilongo?
Carlos Martens Bilongo, 32, was elected in June 2022 under the Nupes label, ending the 14-year mandate of local baron François Pupponi, a socialist figure from Val-d’Oise who had joined the presidential party. The black deputy found himself in the news in November when the deputy RN Grégoire de Fournas cut one of his interventions by launching: “Let him return to Africa! “, provoking an incident of a rare magnitude at the Palais Bourbon.
Before his election, Carlos Martens Bilongo was a professor of economics, law and management in a high school in the Ile-de-France region. He was also involved in the voluntary sector of Villiers-le-Bel, a popular town in Val-d’Oise where he grew up. He became known in his department 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.
What is he accused of?
The deputy LFI Carlos Martens Bilongo is the subject of an investigation for “suspicions of money laundering of tax evasion” and “misuse of corporate assets”. According to BFMTV which revealed the information, the Insoumis is suspected of having concealed just under 200,000 euros from the authorities over the period 2018-2022 and is the subject of a procedure opened in mid-April following a report from Tracfin, Bercy’s financial intelligence unit.
The rebellious deputy Carlos Martens Bilongo would, according to BFMTV, for a time sublet his social housing to his sister while owning two apartments. Still according to the continuous news channel, the LFI deputy would have “benefited until December 2022, six months after his election, from social housing which he sublet to one of his sisters in Villiers- le-Bel, in the Val-d’Oise, while at the same time he owned two other apartments”.
What exactly is in Tracfin’s report?
According to a source familiar with the matter contacted by AFP, this social housing is actually mentioned in Tracfin’s report, which mainly concerns income not declared to the tax authorities. And according to BFMTV, investigators are sifting through several suspicious transactions. The deputy would have received transfers to his bank accounts and collected several tens of thousands of euros in cash while he declared to the High authority for the transparency of public life “(HATVP) not to receive any remuneration from his companies.
Tracfin also reported to the courts an undeclared account abroad of which the deputy would be the holder, according to BFMTV. The Pontoise public prosecutor’s office did not wish to provide further details on the investigation, also opened on the grounds of “failure to report to the High Authority for the transparency of public life”.
What is the MP’s reaction?
Carlos Martens Bilongo said Wednesday “to have fully complied with the law”. “Nothing has ever been hidden”, he assured, presenting exchanges with his lessor in 2019. About his accommodation, Carlos Martens Bilongo explained in a press release “having benefited from social housing in accordance with on (his) means test”, in 2013 “after the death of (his) mother, while (he) was an apprentice”. “In 2018, I acquired two homes with mortgages; one in rental investment (…) the other for my future personal accommodation involving heavy work which was carried out until my departure from the social housing in which I lived with my sister”, he continues.
The deputy claims to have “informed the social landlord in writing and by way of a bailiff in 2019 of all this information, which found nothing wrong with it”. “I left social housing to live in the apartment at the end of my work and my sister was able to vacate social housing at the end of 2022. I therefore complied with the law perfectly in all respects and I did not live in social housing after being elected,” he says, without mentioning a possible sublet to his sister.