The president of the Somme Departmental Council Stéphane Haussoulier (various right) was sentenced, this Tuesday, November 3, to three years of suspended imprisonment, three years of ineligibility and a fine of 30,000 euros, without immediate effect, for embezzlement of public property, fraud and money laundering.
He was convicted of taking advantage of his various political and professional hats to obtain double, or even triple, reimbursements for travel and restaurant expenses between 2016 and 2023.
The 56-year-old elected official was also accused of having used the bank cards made available to him as part of his multiple functions for personal purposes for purchases of alcohol, restaurants, notably the prestigious George V in Paris, or again for a strip club.
His lawyer, Me Antoine Maisonneuve, specified that he would appeal the decision, thus suspending the application of the sentence. The provisional execution of the sentence, requested by the prosecution, was not accepted by the court.
At the hearing of his trial on October 1, Mr. Haussoulier admitted having shown “negligence”, while refuting any “organized system”. He had suggested that the expense reports could have been mixed up by his assistants, or even that it was a plot against him.
The total damage was estimated at nearly 370,000 euros.
The left-wing opposition group “La Somme en commun” called on the majority to “take responsibility” and appoint a new president for the department.
Mr. Haussoulier having been “heavily condemned”, we must “give back to our community a president capable of calmly leading the action of the Somme department and representing it with dignity” the group quickly reacted in a press release.
