Monaco Mayor Georges Marsan and four others indicted on suspicion of corruption

The five people were placed under judicial supervision. The Principality of Monaco is already the scene of corruption cases, the handling of which has been singled out by the Council of Europe.

The mayor of Monaco, Georges Marsan, was indicted along with four other people for corruption, the Principality’s public prosecutor’s office announced on Saturday, December 16. The five people were “placed under judicial supervision”specifies the Attorney General of Monaco, Stéphane Thibault.

Judicial information concerns “counts of active corruption against a national public official, passive corruption by a national public official, active and passive influence peddling, illegal taking of interest by a national public official and criminal association”, explains the prosecutor. Six people were initially placed in police custody in connection with the same case, specifies the prosecution, which adds that several searches were carried out over the last two days.

The Principality called to order by the Council of Europe

As the investigations continue, Stéphane Thibault specifies that it is not “not possible to disclose more information about the investigation, covered by secrecy”. The prosecution also recalls that “those charged remain presumed innocent”.

The principality is already the scene of corruption cases arising from the conflict between Russian billionaire Dmitri Rybolovlev, owner of the AS Monaco football club, and Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier. In January, Moneyval, the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering body, published a report calling for “fundamental improvements to strengthen the effectiveness of the supervision of money laundering investigations and prosecutions and confiscation of proceeds of crime”.