the boss of a CRS company targeted by an investigation for misappropriation of public property

This police officer is suspected of having misused property and advantages to which he had access only as part of his mission as police commander.

The boss of a republican security company, CRS 4, based in Lagny-sur-Marne (Seine-et-Marne) is the subject of a preliminary investigation for suspicion of misappropriation of public property and violation of professional secrecy, learned Monday November 20 franceinfo from the Meaux public prosecutor’s office.

This police officer, boss of this republican security company for 15 years, is suspected of having misused goods and advantages to which he had access only as part of his mission as police commander. Investigators from the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), the police force to which the Meaux prosecutor has entrusted the case, are seeking to explain the hundreds of overtime hours declared by this 56-year-old commander, who he is suspected of not having carried out.

Suspected of having embezzled several thousand euros

Investigators are also seeking to shed light on his personal trips, or for the benefit of his loved ones, which he is suspected of having made with a professional vehicle reserved solely for the service. In total, he is suspected of having embezzled several thousand euros. Investigators are also interested in his son’s engagement meal, for which foodstuffs from CRS 4 are suspected of having been diverted. Finally, the IGPN will check whether this commander took out equipment, in this case hand grenades, from his unit outside the planned framework. “If these actions were proven, it would be unacceptable and the response should be just and real severity”declared the public prosecutor of Meaux, Jean-Baptiste Bladier, to franceinfo.

Me Jean-Christophe Yaèche, lawyer for the commander in question who has been on sick leave for several weeks, said Monday evening that his client cannot comment on these suspicions, only discovering the existence of the preliminary investigation – therefore ignoring the details – and being bound by the duty of reserve, like any police officer. He recalls that his client “never had any problems in his duties, was always well rated by his superiors and even decorated with the Order of Merit.”

An internal inspection report drawn up by the central management of the CRS, an edifying report of which Franceinfo had a copy, describes the police officer as chronically absent from his barracks to the point that his men do not know him or only by sight. He is described there as a police officer more focused on his practice of golf and swimming than on his mission in the service of maintaining order. And its technical and operational skills are presented in this document as clearly lacking.

In addition to the judicial investigation, an internal administration investigation is opened, also entrusted to the IGPN, to establish whether or not there has been a breach of integrity. The investigation has only just begun and could last several months.