Spoiled like never Universal Music France?

Yes according to the Criminal Court of Créteil which sentenced, this Monday, September 27, a former manager of rapper Maître Gims, to twenty-four months in prison, twelve of which were suspended for having defrauded nearly 300,000 euros from the record company.

The defendant was also sentenced to a fine of 50,000 euros and will serve his sentence in the form of house arrest.

He was not alone in appearing before the judges since three other defendants were sentenced with him to terms of six months imprisonment to twelve months suspended, while three others were released.

False invoices for an aborted project

Between 2014 and 2016, Universal Music paid dozens of invoices "without justification" and actually corresponding to "no service" for travel, studio recordings or photo shoots, recalled in May during the hearing the president of the tribunal. At the heart of this scam, a former manager of the label Monstre Marin Corporation, created by rapper Maître Gims. In 2015, he called on this "label manager" to help him in particular to produce a new album,

Djuna Family

. The investigation will show that false invoices were also produced for this project, which was ultimately aborted. Other projects, including one with singer Vitaa, have been the subject of "false invoices", according to investigators.

"It is he who really took advantage of this offense, the one who is in a position of strength, who was able to impose his will", had underlined the prosecutor during her indictment, about the accused. The latter, however, defended himself against any fraud: “Never in my life have I made false invoices. "The defendant, at the head of several companies providing services for artists like Vitaa or Bramsito, added to the bar:" It is a particular environment, I establish a budget for an album and a valid management control, my role is to make the system more fluid. "

"Universal releases budget lines for my client who uses providers", argued during the hearing his lawyer, Me Yann Le Bras, who had pleaded for release on the grounds that "no offense (was) materialized".

"Even if the process was unusual, I did not see any wrongdoing, for me there was a form of logic", explained for his part a sound engineer, provider of this label manager and also warned.

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Judged for fraud, the manager of Gims risks imprisonment

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