A conviction was requested by the prosecutor… The Nîmes criminal court listened to the arguments of Maître Hugo Ferri and acquitted the defendant.
He was accused of a six-figure fraud against the Caf du Gard and of not appointing an auditor. Facts dating from January 2015 to August 2018.
In September 2017, the public prosecutor of Nîmes opened an investigation after an alert from the director of the Caf concerning a suspicion of fraud by a structure that welcomed 17 infants and children in a town on the outskirts of Nîmes. The private nursery found itself in the crosshairs of Justice. The procedure lasted almost 7 years, since the case referred to the criminal court of Nîmes, was mentioned yesterday Tuesday September 17, 2024.
The CAF, through its counsel, Maître Rémi Portes, demanded nearly 200,000 euros in reimbursement of the sums received.
“My only wish is for this to stop.“, begs, visibly marked by so many years of investigation, the volunteer president of the nursery. Her lawyer, Hugo Ferri, continues: “Where is the interest of the lady? There is no embezzlement, no profit from money and she is the voluntary president of the association that manages the nursery.”
“We do not have the right to invoke error, but rather fraud“, the prosecutor had denounced a little earlier, demanding a sanction of one year in prison suspended and a fine of 10,000 euros against this 56-year-old woman.
“We are not talking about a multinational nursery, but a very small associative structure. My client gave her time, her health. This is a case that we want to qualify as a scam, but without any trickery and without criminal misconduct.“, continues the criminal lawyer from Gard.”There is levity but no criminal offence“, insists Maître Ferri, whose arguments hit the mark… A few minutes later, the court delivers its verdict and his client is acquitted of the two offences.
