After 24 hours in police custody, Gilles Bourdouleix is brought before a judge this Wednesday evening. The Angers prosecutor’s office requested his indictment for “breach of trust”.
After the announcement, this Tuesday, of the arrest of the mayor of Cholet, the reason for his custody remained secret. The public prosecutor of Angers, Éric Bouillard, finally lifted the veil this Wednesday evening, during a press conference. “Four people were taken into custody yesterday (Tuesday, editor’s note) morning,” he announced.
For Gilles Bourdouleix, the offenses referred to are “breach of trust, concealment of corporate assets and work by partial concealment of activity”, detailed the prosecutor.
His wife was arrested for “concealment of breach of trust and concealment of corporate assets” while his two former assistants are suspected of “complicity and breach of trust”.
“A damage of several tens of thousands of euros”
The investigators of the judicial police discovered that a sum greater than 200,000 euros had been paid, a few years ago, to the micro-party of Gilles Bourdouleix. These funds “would then have been used to supply the personal accounts of Gilles Bourdouleix, in particular a payment of 45,000 euros which enabled him to repay a personal loan”, developed Éric Bouillard.
The prosecutor also points out that “several disputed payments” have been noted, “for a loss of several tens of thousands of euros in total if the presumptions are confirmed”.
Gilles Bourdouleix “partially acknowledged the facts with which he is charged. His former deputy also acknowledged the materiality of the facts. The other two people defend themselves by saying that they were not really aware of what was going on. It will be to the investigation to determine it”, specified Éric Bouillard.
It took more than six months for investigators to collect the elements that led to the placement in custody of the four suspects. They “moved quietly, not to hide anything, but because the investigation required documentary and banking investigations”.
“No amalgamation between the different files”
The suspicions arose when the police were already investigating the mayor of Cholet, in the context of other legal cases targeting him. Three preliminary investigations, entrusted to the judicial police of Angers, were indeed opened in 2021 concerning Gilles Bourdouleix for misappropriation, illegal taking of interest, breaches of the regulations on weapons as well as forgery and use of forgery. The police custody initiated on Tuesday morning therefore intervenes in a case separate from the three previous ones.
“We must not confuse the different files,” insisted the prosecutor during his conference.
This Wednesday evening, Gilles Bourdouleix’s police custody was lifted with a view to his being brought before a judge. The prosecution requested his indictment and his placement under judicial supervision.
