The investigation against Eric Ciotti and his ex-wife, for multiple jobs, closed without further action

The National Financial Prosecutor’s Office stated, Tuesday 1^Ahem In October, Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Monday closed the preliminary investigation against former Republican leader Eric Ciotti and his ex-wife Caroline Magne on suspicion of improper accumulation of public employment.

The PNF had opened in November 2022, in the middle of the LR presidential campaign, a preliminary investigation into misappropriation of public funds, abuse of trust and cover-up of these crimes after the publication of articles according to which Eric’s ex-wife, Ciotti, would have He held several positions between 2008 and 2017 in the Assembly, in Nice and in the Alpes-Maritimes department.

“At the end of the investigations, the crime did not seem sufficiently characterized”specified the PNF. “The investigation revealed significant variations in remuneration and work quota and it was not possible to verify the volume of hours actually worked when M^me Magne worked as a full-time parliamentary assistant. [entre janvier 2013 et août 2014] »the financial prosecutor’s office stressed.

“Tasks related to the missions of a parliamentary assistant”

“However, from the elements collected in the process, particularly from the testimonies, it appears that M^me Caroline Magne performed well throughout the period the tasks related to the parliamentary assistant missions”according to the PNF. “The investigations also confirmed a lack of authorization for accumulation, which may constitute an administrative infraction, but which does not in itself constitute a criminal offense.”The prosecution also clarified.

HE chained duck had revealed that M^me Magne would have held various positions in parliament or with its political allies: press secretary for Christian Estrosi, she became, in 2007, parliamentary attaché for Éric Ciotti when he was elected member of the Assembly, in addition to a position in the departmental council of the Maritime Alps. where she “expands skills” when her husband became president in 2008.

The article also reveals that she was deputy director of the Nice city council before joining the management team of the urban community, exercising these responsibilities until 2011. In the Assembly, her contract ended in 2016 but she also, between 2014 and 2016, exercised responsibilities. in the municipality of La Colle-sur-Loup, and worked in the diocese of Nice between 2012 and 2014, according to Le Canard Chainé. The diocese denied this, assuring AFP that M^me magne had “I worked in a Catholic educational center in the Alpes-Maritimes”.

After this article was published, Ciotti explained that he had hired Caroline Magne as a parliamentary aide. “very part time” AND “in strict compliance with laws and regulations”. Mr. Ciotti and his ex-wife were heard in public court in December 2022.

The Nice prosecutor’s office is investigating, for its part, suspicions of misappropriation of public funds regarding a possible accumulation of jobs in the departmental council of the Alpes-Maritimes that could have benefited Eric Ciotti.