The Paris prosecutor’s office announced on Monday, November 18, the opening of an investigation against the private daycare group People & Baby, after the anti-corruption association Anticor filed a complaint, in particular, for various scams and misappropriation of public funds. The group was caught up in an investigation by journalist Víctor Castanet: published in mid-September, the book investigates The ogres (Flammarion) described the “voracity” of certain private daycare groups and, in particular, People & Baby.
According to the prosecutor’s office, Anticor’s complaint denounces “acts of fraud to the detriment of a public person or an organization charged with a public service mission, misappropriation of public funds, misappropriation of social assets, abuse of trust, complicity in tax fraud, potentially attributable to People & Baby nurseries ». The investigation was entrusted to the direction of the judicial police on November 14, according to the same source.
“Given the inertia of public powers, it seemed necessary to act”said Paul Cassia, president of Anticor, during a Nov. 12 press conference announcing the filing of the complaint. “The starting point of this matter is Víctor Castanet’s book on the management of a company that manages private daycare centers”continuous.
“At least” 2.1 million euros embezzled, according to Anticor
The association’s lawyer, M.my Vincent Brengarth, detailed the different qualifications to which the complaint is directed “in the particular context of these daycare centers that benefit (…) public aid from the State » and the “lack of places in daycare centers”. According to him, the amount of money embezzled would be “at least 2.1 million euros, a figure that only refers to the fraud of partial unemployment aid”. Currently, France has 460,000 collective daycare places, of which 50% in public daycares, 27% in private daycares (Les Petits Chaperons rouge, Babilou, La Maison Bleue, People & Baby, etc.) and 23% in associative nurseries.
In a press release sent to Agence France-Presse in mid-September, People & Baby – whose founder and president, Christophe Durieux, was removed from his position in the spring – stated that “the practices described in the work” by Mr. Castañuela “They are totally out of tune with the values that[ils] port[ent] Today “.
The new management of the group announced that there “a profound transformation began”with a new president, and promised to correct “immediately” All “malfunction that could be identified”. “Independent audits” will start up and “We are committed to transparently reporting on the actions implemented and their follow-up”added People and Baby.
