Karl Olive, Renaissance MP, convicted of illegal taking of interest

POLITICS – Hard blow for this former journalist, who became close to Emmanuel Macron. The Renaissance deputy Karl Olive, former LR mayor of Poissy, was sentenced this Monday, November 18 to eight months in prison suspended for illegal taking of interest during his municipal mandate, indicated the judicial court of Versailles in a press release.

Two other defendants, the current director of youth and sports in Poissy and his father, former deputy director of town hall services, were also found guilty and sentenced to suspended prison sentences of six and four months respectively. , as required by the prosecution, as well as a fine of 3,000 euros each.

The court found Karl Olive guilty “of having committed acts of illegal taking of interest by participating in the recruitment (of the son, editor's note) under conditions based on an arrangement allowing freedom from the rules of appointment of the public service”.

He escapes ineligibility

The former councilor also attributed to the father “staff accommodation for which the fee was undervalued”adds the same source. During the hearing on September 24, the prosecutor denounced “a form of nepotism of Karl Olive, condemned by the rules of the territorial civil service”motivated by “bonds of friendship” maintained with his co-defendants.

“I have always considered that regarding what was proposed by the financial department, the HR department or the legal department, there were no questions” to ask, argued Karl Olive who claims to have simply “trusted” to his team. “Having regard to the date of the facts and the textual basis used for the prosecution, the court did not impose a sentence of ineligibility”indicates the court.

The MP criticized this judgment in a press release sent to AFP, arguing that these decisions had been “voted in municipal council like thousands of others”. “Ten years of procedure for two decisions taken two months after my election as mayor in 2014 and concerning two agents. No personal enrichment, no embezzlement of public funds”he declared. “ We will appeal the decision”indicated Karl Olive's lawyer, Me Rodolphe Bosselut, contacted by AFP.

Also see on HuffPost: