Mr. Delevoye was tried at a pre-conviction appearance hearing (CRPC).

The Paris Criminal Court, which approved the sentence, did not pronounce a sentence of ineligibility against him and exempted him from being registered in his criminal record.

"It was a hearing in which Mr. Delevoye was able to say that he assumed his responsibility for the facts alleged against him," commented his lawyer, Me Marion Delaigue, to AFP. "Both the president of the court and the prosecutor recognized the good faith of Mr. Delevoye who did not seek to evade or to defraud", she underlined.

The Paris prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation in December 2019 for "breach of trust", "abuse of corporate assets" and concealment of these offenses, after being seized by the High Authority for the Transparency of Public Life (HATVP).

She had reported her incomplete declaration of interests and a possible "concealment of misuse of social good" for having accumulated his government remuneration with that of president of the think tank Parallaxe.

Faced with the cascade of press revelations on his parallel activities, Jean-Paul Delevoye had resigned from the government, in the midst of social conflict over his pension reform.

Appointed to the post of High Commissioner for Pension Reform in 2017, Mr. Delevoye had legally accumulated his remuneration as a senior official with that of Honorary President of Parallaxe since 2008, but he had failed in his obligation to inform the HATVP.

However, his entry into the government in September 2019 made this accumulation illegal, since the Constitution prohibits "all professional activity" to members of the government.

"I kept it when I was appointed high commissioner and therefore a high official, then when I became a member of the government, which, I have since learned, was not authorized," Mr. Delevoye, acknowledging an "error".

Faced with the controversy, he had committed to repay the sums received during these three months, a little more than 16,000 euros.

In his declaration of interests and activities, submitted in mid-November after taking office, the former high commissioner had however only indicated his combination of functions with the presidency of the Parallaxe think tank and two associations as well as his function. passed from general delegate of the IGS training group.

The revelation of other mandates by the press had forced him to send the HATVP a corrected declaration comprising eight additional functions, including the past presidency of the Economic and Social Council (Cese) or the function of administrator of the SNCF Foundation.

© 2021 AFP