It is a trial worthy of a film which opens this Monday in Paris, that said of the leaks from 36 Quai des orfèvres, the former bastion of the Parisian judicial police. An incredible affair involving big names in the police alongside a star con artist and a former secretary of state.
It is in fact not one, but three cases that have been grouped together for this trial. The first involves in particular Christophe Rocancourt, the crook of the stars, accused of having tried to regularize two Moroccan women without papers. To do so, he would have asked for help from the former boss of the GIGN, Christian Prouteau, to activate his network, in particular with the prefect of Paris.
Other names appear in this file, including that of the former Togolese secretary of state and politician, Kofi Yamgnane. French justice suspects the Franco-Togolese of having received an envelope of 3000 euros in 2015 in exchange for a promise to intervene with the Minister of the Interior at the time, Bernard Cazeneuve. During the investigation, Kofi Yamgnane denied having been paid to use his networks.
The second part is directly linked to the first. It also concerns big names in the police, suspected of having transmitted information to Christophe Rocancourt about the first case.
This time it was Bernard Petit, head of the judicial police at the time, his chief of staff as well as a police officer, Philippe Lemaître, who would have played the intermediary. The latter, then in post at the national association for social action, which manages the social works of the police, says he acted under the orders of its president, Joaquin Masanet.
And the third and last part of this colossal trial concerns facts of embezzlement within the structure for the benefit of Joaquin Masanet discovered during the investigation. In total, 19 defendants are thus tried for counts ranging from fraud to influence peddling through violation of the secrecy of the investigation until October 5.