The LR mayor of Meaux, Jean-François Copé, is the target of an investigation into his potentially fraudulent use of municipal vehicles for purposes beyond his duties, indicated the Paris prosecutor's office, confirming information from the Monde.
In an April 2022 report, the Regional Audit Chamber (CRC) of Île-de-France pointed out excessive and possibly undue use of municipal vehicles by the elected official. The Anticor association had reported the facts to the courts, and the Paris prosecutor's office confirmed having opened an investigation in June 2024, entrusted to the Brigade for the Repression of Corruption and Tax Fraud (BRCF).
Lawyer or TV guest travel
In detail, the CRC considered in particular that Jean-François Copé had benefited until 2022 from a service vehicle and two drivers for his daily journeys between Meaux and his home in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. All without authorization from the municipal council.
The CRC also considered that during all these years, the use of the vehicle had gone beyond the strict framework of professional journeys linked to his duties as an elected official and that the mayor of Meaux did not “demonstrate that these journeys […] were strictly justified by the exercise of his mandate. The CRC thus wondered whether certain trips were not rather made for Parisian broadcasts of national politics or for the lawyer's functions of the person concerned. For this alone, the cost for the city is estimated at 126,000 euros annually between 2018 and 2020.
Asked by AFP, the former boss of the French right said that he was “unaware” of the need for a deliberation between 2016 and 2022 to be able to benefit from a company vehicle. Error “immediately” corrected as soon as he was “informed” of it. Regarding the regularity of the use of municipal resources, “things are perfectly clear” according to Jean-François Copé. He emphasizes that the vehicle and the drivers were reserved “strictly” for his “mayoral activity”.
France
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