accused by her sister of abusing her deceased father, she is acquitted

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The criminal court de Nantes acquitted on Thursday, November 7, a septuagenarian from L’Hébergement (Vendée), who was accused by her sister of having engaged in “abuse of weakness” on their father who died in August 2015 in Saint-Aignan-de-Grand -Lieu, Pont-Saint-Martin, Rezé and Bouguenais (Loire-Atlantique), reports the PressPepper agency.

Except for his life insurance, however, there was only “€7.36” left in this man’s accounts on the day of his death.

The nonagenarian, who had lived in a retirement home since 2009 and who was buried in Saint-Aignan-de-Grand-Lieu, had “sold his house for €200,000” and had “monthly income roughly similar to current charges” , reported the president during the hearing.

“In 2014, the cost of the retirement home was €23,056 and he declared €23,208 in income,” she said.

The deceased had “ retained his cognitive abilities » until his death, according to his two daughters and the “medical expertise”, but he had suffered from a “ progressive blindness » appeared after having suffered an “eye hemorrhage”, following the death of his wife in 1997. In any case, “no protective measure, nor even a request” had “been opened” to help him.

At the opening of the succession, the sister of the defendant then began to “ask questions” about “the disappearance of sums” from her father’s accounts “from 2007”.

“Movements that appear suspicious”

It was not disputed during the hearing that the defendant was the more “present” of the two for their father in the last years of his life and that she had a “power of attorney” over his accounts that her sister had. “accepted”.

“It was agreed like this: she had confidence and said she was not suspicious,” summarized the president of the court.

The investigators therefore “examined the accounts” of the father and his daughter, who had worked for La Poste: they then discovered “numerous movements that appear suspicious “, by “transfer”, “check” or “bank card”, for a total exceeding €180,000.

During her custody in 2018, the defendant did not “contest the operations”, but said “she had never done anything to the detriment of her father”, whom she described as “ spendthrift ».

“He was not a spendthrift, but did not deny himself anything,” she said, Thursday November 7, 2024, during her trial at the Nantes courthouse.

“He said that all work deserves wages”

However, other relatives of the old man “did not have the vision of a spendthrift”, observed the president: a caregiver had “qualified him as a stingy” when he had “opposed washing of his mattress protector saying that there was no point in spending money on it.

Originally from Bouaye, the defendant admitted that she should have “joined down the services and amounts in a notebook” and had great difficulty justifying most of the expenses pointed out by the president and her assessors.

I saw the money disappearing, but I don't have a calculating mind.

The defendant still explained the most important ones. “My father paid me a credit [de 25 000 €] and helped my son with his garage,” cited the defendant as an example.

She also claimed that he had “given her gifts”, without managing to give specific examples. “He said that all work deserves wages and felt that if I wasn’t there, he wouldn’t live.”

Regarding more modest expenses, she reported “restaurants” in which her father “paid for his trip”, the purchase of “clothes” or even “shopping at Lidl”. This “naive” woman had “done what she could for her father” and had not “enriched herself”, according to her lawyer, Me Stephanie Salau.

The lawyer for the civil party, Me Lise-Marie Michaudpleaded recognition of the abuse of weakness, while recognizing that “the defendant was there for her father” and that he had “wanted to benefit her [en lui donnant deux tiers de son héritage contre un tiers à sa sœur plaignante] ».

Conflictful and deep rupture

The relationship appeared tense between the two sisters during the hearing.

Everyone was surrounded by their loved ones, on both sides of the room, without communicating too much or looking at each other.

“It’s not your sister’s trial, it’s yours,” the president reminded the defendant. The one who had become a civil party in December 2016 had also filed a complaint for “theft” and “breach of trust”, but these suspicions ended with non-places.

The public prosecutor considered that the offense was “perfectly characterized” in this case, in particular by the fact that “the vulnerability of the victim was established and known” and that he was “not convinced” by the justifications provided by the accused. “I don’t know any banker who would accept such a thing, at the risk of losing their job,” he said of the €24,000 allegedly paid to a “ marabout ».

Lack of certainty

The Nantes criminal court therefore did not follow its requisitions and released the septuagenarian with a clean record: he has a “ lack of certainty that the movements of funds were without the knowledge or disagreement of the deceased. “

At least until May 2015, he had “retained his cognitive abilities”, also recalled the president of the court.

After the court's decision, the prosecution had ten days to appeal: the civil party, who demanded 60 000 € for “loss of chance of receiving a third of the inheritance”, €3,000 for “moral damage” and €2,000 for legal costs, was declared technically “admissible”, but was dismissed due to the acquittal.

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