The Valais Public Prosecutor’s Office has completed its criminal investigation into illegal construction in Verbier (VS). Four former local elected officials and the municipal secretary will have to answer for unfair management of public interests and abuse of authority, according to the indictment obtained by Le Matin Dimanche.
No fewer than 248 illegal constructions have been analyzed over nearly ten years. The Public Prosecutor’s Office retained 23 to support its indictment, reports Le Matin Dimanche. The issuance of illicit building permits was “an integral part of a politico-economic strategy aimed at the development of high-end tourism and the domiciliation of large fortunes”, denounces prosecutor Cindy Kämpf in the indictment of 44 pages.
>> Read also: The last files linked to illegal constructions in Verbier have been processed
Affair revealed in 2015
The affair of illegal constructions in Verbier was revealed in 2015. Two independent experts commissioned by the municipality of Bagnes – now Val de Bagnes – noted that the disputed files linked to the construction of chalets in the resort all present irregularities. In April 2016, the Council of State ordered the municipality for the first time to comply with the law and required a report every six months to account for its progress.
Several reports were written and a second summons was issued in May 2020. The municipality then appealed to the cantonal, then federal, court. The highest legal authority deemed this appeal inadmissible and the summons from the Council of State was updated to September 30, 2021.
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