Sentenced in court, this LR mayor of the metropolis of Lyon forced to resign

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It is a small earthquake which is currently shaking the metropolitan political class.

Philippe Cochet, LR mayor of Caluire-et-Cuire since 2008 and advisor to the Metropolis of Lyon, has just been convicted by the courts for embezzlement of public funds this Wednesday, December 11, 2024.

The sentence handed down against him, that of three years in prison, one year of which is closed, is accompanied by five years of ineligibility with provisional execution.

The chosen one is therefore obliged to immediately abandon his duties as mayorwhich he had held for 16 years, as well as those of metropolitan councilor and president of the “La Métropositive” group.

Colossal sums to repay

After a long investigation by the National Financial Prosecutor's Office, Philippe Cochet was found guilty of embezzlement of public funds in the context of the affair of his wife's fictitious jobLaetitia Cochet.

She had been employed as a parliamentary assistant when her husband was a deputy for the 5th constituency of Rhône, between 2002 and 2017.

In the dock alongside Philippe Cochet, she was also sentenced to two years in prison for complicity and concealment of embezzlement of public funds as well as social fraud.

According to Lyon Magthe couple will have to reimburse the National Assembly for 712,378 euros and France Travail for 97,941 euros. Amounts corresponding to Laetitia Cochet's salaries and the unemployment benefits that the latter received during her husband's defeat in the 2017 legislative elections.

The couple plans to appeal

“Recall that Mr. Cochet has already been fined 140,000 euros by the Industrial Tribunal for pay discrimination in 2019. Ethics, probity, respect for voters and the population have, it seems, weighed very little for Mr. Cochet in the practice of his mandate as deputy,” commented the metropolitan group Les Écologues in an official press release.

According to BFM LyonPhilippe Cochet and his wife intend to appeal this court decision.

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