The Saint-Étienne court found Thierry Mandon guilty ofmisuse of corporate assets, forgery and use of forgery, attempted misappropriation of public property and fraudwhen he directed the Cité du design in Saint-Étienne. He was appointed there in 2018 and resigned in October 2022.
Former socialist secretary of state receives a prison sentence of 12 months suspended accompanied by a fine of 22,000 euros. He is also prohibited from exercising any management or presidential activity of a public establishmentfor life; and to be elected for 5 years.
Thierry Mandon must therefore leave his position as secretary general of the National Commerce Council because the court requested provisional execution penalties. He was appointed there in June 2023. He is 66 years old.
“A severe decision” and “meeting the direct harm done to trust, that of citizens as well as that of the staff of the Cité du design”
“It is a relatively harsh decision given the fact that there is no victim in the case and that everything has been reimbursed,” comments André Buffard, even if the Prosecutor had requested a longer suspended sentence and a heavier fine. “This decision is surely explained by the context and the procedures which target the policies in which we find ourselves. Justice wants to set an example“, adds Thierry Mandon's lawyer.
“Yes, it’s a harsh judgment, but fair,” reacts Cyrille Bardon, the lawyer for the Cité du design, at the height of the “direct harm that Thierry Mandon has done to public trust and to the staff of this establishment. . It required effort, work and to realize it afterwards, after an express resignationit considerably alters confidence (…) He did not repay on his own initiative but ultimately because of the controls that were placed on him.”
At the hearing, at the end of October, Thierry Mandon admitted to having produced false invoices to finance work at his home, of around 15,000 euros for a custom staircase, and to being reimbursed for 43 TGV trips already paid for by the Cité du design , as well as a trip to China which ultimately did not take place because of Covid.
Thierry Mandon was a deputy for Essonne, mayor of Ris-Orangis in this same department of Ile-de-France, before being part of two governments of Manuel Valls, first as Secretary of State for Reform and in Simplification in 2014 then in charge of Higher Education and Research until 2016.
Thierry Mandon has 10 days to appeal, he and his lawyer still have to think about it.
