Strong man of Var politics for 30 years, this 75-year-old elected official who had left the Republicans party to join the camp of President Emmanuel Macron, left the court head down, without a word after his conviction for concealment of embezzlement of public funds.

The provisional execution of a sentence of ineligibility means that the sentence is applicable immediately, even in the event of an appeal by him.

These sentences are in line with the requisitions of the prosecutor who had described this case as a "real scandal". The confiscation of a sum of 55,000 euros seized from his account was also pronounced.

The court accused Mr. Falco, who is also president of the Toulon metropolis, of having continued to have lunch for free for years in the cafeteria of the Departmental Council, while he had not been president for more than ten years, and of having benefited from meals at home and dry cleaning fees, also paid on public funds of this community.

These meals were stored in a dedicated refrigerator, hence the name of this folder: "Falco's fridge".

In total, these private meals served to Hubert Falco and his wife, an employee of the departmental council, would have cost the taxpayer at least 64,500 euros between 2015 and 2018, according to investigators. That's 1,500 euros per month.

In a long motivation for her decision, which she is accustomed to, the president of the criminal court of Marseille, Céline Ballerini, told her: "We heard the witnesses say that you were an excellent mayor, that you had done a lot".

"But the question is not there," she added, because the facts, "by their smallness", show "an obvious lack of respect" for the institutions and show that "the Departmental Council remained your territory".

Not to mention the "steps that were revealed by the wiretapping" during the investigation and which "testify to this contempt for the rules and the desire to escape certain realities," added the magistrate.

Strong man of the Var for 30 years, Hubert Falco left deprived of civil rights, the "worst sentence for me", he had said Friday morning.

According to the procedure, after a conviction for ineligibility accompanied by provisional execution, the prefect of Var must issue an order signifying the termination of the mandates of the local elected representative concerned.

© 2023 AFP