Fraud: disqualification confirmed on appeal by Roubaix mayor Guillaume Delbard

Roubaix mayor Guillaume Delbard was sentenced on Monday on appeal in Douai to a six-month suspended prison sentence and two years’ disqualification for organized gang fraud, but intends to appeal to the Court of Cassation, which will suspend the execution of the sentence. “This decision is outrageous,” Mr. Delbart told AFP. “I ask my lawyer to file a cassation appeal,” he added, proving his “innocence of the alleged facts.” This appeal will allow the execution of the sentence to be suspended, he noted.

The sentence handed down to Mr. Delbard, the mayor of the city of 98,000 people, one of the poorest in France, is similar to the one handed down at first instance. Mr. Delbard stood trial at the Douai Court of Appeal, along with his former first deputy and their relatives, for organized gang fraud and for the fraudulent system of tax exemption through micro-parties. Some defendants were also charged with “breach of trust” and “concealing a breach of trust.” At a hearing in February, the prosecution sought “confirmation” of the trial convictions of six of the fourteen defendants who filed appeals.

This system lasted from 2015 to 2020.

“We have a small group of friends who will donate to political parties and receive more from those political parties than their investment,” Attorney General Christophe Delattre explained during the hearing. This system operated from 2015 to 2020, transferring tens of thousands of euros between two micro-parties that were supposed to finance election campaigns and fictitious associations.

Donors could benefit from a tax cut of 66% of the amounts, but also receive, through blank checks from these associations, at least 50% of the original amounts paid. The tax administration estimates the damage at almost 40,000 euros. Former first deputy Max-Andre Pic, in turn, was sentenced on appeal to 18 months of suspended imprisonment and three years of disqualification.