The policeman of political financing, Jean-Philippe Vachia, said Thursday “astonished by the astonishment” of Bruno Le Maire after the opening of a preliminary investigation into the financing of his microparty “With BLM” and pinned the Deputy Nicolas Dupont-Aignan.
During the presentation to the press of his annual report, the president of the National Commission for Campaign Accounts (CNCCFP), indicated that he had “seized the prosecution” in three cases of “supplier debt” which concern the Debout la France parties of Nicolas Dupont-Aignan with 655,134 euros, the movement created by Corinne Lepage CAP21-Le Rassemblement citoyen with 246,103 euros and the left-wing formation Nouvelle donne with 184,125 euros.
Nicolas Dupont-Aignan told AFP that the bills not paid by his party to service providers amounted to 249,678 euros to date. “We have indeed reimbursed over the last 18 months the difference,” he explained, adding that the figure given by the commission dates back to December 31, 2021.
He clarified that the remaining debt would be paid “as soon as the State pays us the share of public funding that we have been waiting for since April 2023”.
In the case of “With BLM”, the microparty of the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire, the Brigade for the repression of economic delinquency (BRDE) of the Paris judicial police must determine whether illegal donations have been made through invoices of unpaid providers.
Bruno Le Maire said he was “surprised” that justice was seized, saying that his 2017 campaign accounts had been validated by the CNCCFP, said his entourage.
“Allow me in turn to be amazed at the astonishment,” replied Mr. Vachia, believing that there are two different aspects.
“You can have certified accounts (by the Commission), which means that formally your account is correct,” he explained. “Notwithstanding, we noted possible intrinsic irregularities”.
The microparty has “passed unreimbursed supplier debts into exceptional profits. This is not normal because the law completely prohibits a supplier from making gifts to political parties any more than to candidates”, explained the President of the Commission. , confirming that this training had first invoked “prescription”.
It is these unpaid service provider invoices that are in the sights of investigators.
According to Mediapart, which revealed the opening of the preliminary investigation, out of “more than a dozen” unpaid service providers, the largest canceled debts come from two political communication specialists: Experian (with an invoice of 24,990 euros not settled) and Catch Digital Strategy (9,000 euros).
In all four cases, Mr. Vachia made a point of explaining why these questions of “debt suppliers” can constitute “illegal aid” to political parties.
“When for years and years you have the same debts that you find with respect to companies in the accounts of a political party, this shows that de facto the supplier gives an advantage to the training because this does not repay its debt,” he said.
In the case of “Avec BLM”, the offenses are punishable by three years’ imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros.
06/15/2023 21:25:19 – Paris (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
