Did Hubert B. “lack of rigor” or is he a “smart guy trying to circumvent the system”as the lawyer for the retirement and occupational health insurance fund (Carsat) M thinkse Benjamin Cardella? The Draguignan criminal court ruled around ten days ago in favor of the second option. To settle all accounts, the sixty-year-old was sentenced to eight months of flexible imprisonment.
Fake ones to “plug the holes”
Found guilty of attempted fraud and use of forged documents, Hubert was also sentenced to five years of ineligibility. Unlucky candidate in the 2020 municipal elections in Flassans-sur-Issole, he will therefore not be able to run again in two years.
In 2018, when looking in the rearview mirror of his professional life, Hubert realized that there was “lacks” to benefit from extended career rights. However, he had worked hard, working over the years for six different companies in Eastern France, in catering, materials trading and equipment rental. Often “paid in cash”he therefore “plugged the holes”. Lots of holes.
In total, Carsat agents discovered that Hubert had attempted to add 34 quarters to his retirement during two requests to update his account in 2008 and 2017. According to their calculations, the damage could have amounted to at 255,000 euros. “But contribution rates and rules vary so much each year that it's very difficult, if not impossible, not to get burned, underlines Me Cardella. Who can believe that in all the companies where he worked, each time there was a period where he was not declared?
During its inspection, Carsat thus discovered inaccurate deduction rates, a lack of mention of euros/francs on pay slips, a salary that was too high for a simple waiter or even referral to a collection agreement. “which does not exist”.
“In addition to illegal work, we demand a pension…”
“You also declared that you were working during periods when you were receiving unemployment, points out President Marie-José Coureau-Vergnolle. The comparisons between pay slips and tax returns did not, in fact, correspond.” – “In addition to illegal work, we demand a pension, sighs prosecutor Pierre Couttenier. Why bother? You might as well go French.”
If Hubert is not “the first nor the last” trying to defraud Carsat, he is not far from having established a gluttony record “on the period of attempting to obtain fraudulent quarters” lift Me Cardella. “His forgeries were established over 30 years. It's disconcerting and it shows a real way of working at home. He was an independent accountant in these companies for a long time. He knows them well and was able to spin a whole story.”
“I lacked rigor, it’s true, tries the accused. I had not measured the consequences of my actions. I regret it and I will now make a request with the real elements.” “He tried to regularize his chaotic situation in the worst possible way, pleads Me Gaëtan Aglieri in defense. But he is already paying the consequences.”
At 67, Hubert receives the RSA and lives with his daughter. He is now old enough to receive his full pension. Depending, of course, on his contributed quarters.
