The socialist president of Pyrénées-Orientales indicted for favoritism and passive corruption
The president of the Pyrénées-Orientales (PS) departmental council, Hermeline Malherbe, has been indicted for “favoritism, passive corruption, passive influence peddling and illegal taking of interests”, announced Wednesday June 7 at the Agence France-Presse the prosecutor of Marseille, Dominique Laurens. Mme Malherbe was placed under judicial control, with a ban on leaving the national territory, said Mr.me Laurens.
The indictment is dated May 16. “The information took several weeks to leak”, selon France Blue Roussillon, which revealed this indictment as part of an investigation into the suspicious award of public contracts. Mme Malherbe and her husband are notably suspected of having benefited from discounts on work carried out in their homes by companies also working for the HLM office of the department, chaired from 2015 to 2021 by Mme Malherbe herself.
On her Facebook page, the president of the Departmental Council specified that she had been heard in the context of this investigation by the Interregional Jurisdiction of Marseille (JIRS), which specializes in the fight against organized crime and financial crime.
“This has no impact on my mandate as president of the department (…) We will do everything we can to bring the light to light. Anxious to let justice do its job, I will not speak on the subject outside of this statement.she writes again.