She has distinguished herself “in the art of clever delinquency”, sums up Paris Normandy. Between 2001 and 2013, an accountant from a notarial office in Elbeuf (Seine-Maritime) embezzled more than 1.2 million euros for her benefit.
She was given a one-year suspended prison sentence last Thursday before the Rouen Criminal Court, and will have to reimburse the sums to insurance and civil parties.
This 64-year-old retiree did not come to the hearing, indicates the regional daily. She had been “spotted” in 2011 by the regional chamber of notaries, who had plunged his nose into the accounts.
Each year, the defendant cashed checks from 400 euros to more than 20,000 euros. “Each month, in addition to her salary of 1,600 euros, she paid herself an additional 5,000 to 7,000 euros, sometimes more”, says Paris Normandy.
“She was afraid of missing out”
To the investigating judge, she would have explained that divorced, with two dependent children, “she was afraid of missing out”. But that was the gear. She bought a veranda for her house, had the kitchen redone twice, and “pleased her loved ones”…
France 3 Normandy specifies that the notary of the study had also been prosecuted at the time, before benefiting from a dismissal. The defendant had said during his hearing that by discovering his embezzlement, “he would have demanded part of the jackpot for his silence”. This was not demonstrated during the investigation.