Mayor of Nice at court over fraud allegations

As scandalous fraud case is being investigated, the mayor of Nice (above) is called to give his testimony. Copyright Olivier Ezratty

On Wednesday, the former Minister of Industry was at the High Court in Marseille to clear his name after he was confirmed as one of the politicians under scrutiny over allegations related to violating laws regarding the awarding of a public contract.

The investigation involves a 7 million euro contract awarded to French manufacturer, Héliprotection, to provide helicopters to France’s fire service in the south east regions.

A whistleblower claimed that Héliprotection was illegally subcontracting its works to another helicopter provider, Héli paca.

It was alleged that both companies agreed to share the contract to maximise profit. However the regional government was not aware of this agreement.

Estrosi reportedly told the court that his predecessor had given the private company a two-year public contract in 2003 and that he had refused to renew this contract when he became the president of the service d’incendie et de secours (Alpes-Maritimes fire brigade service) in 2005.

Last month, the owners of the two companies were indicted for fraud and for the abuse of contracts for public works.

The court is still in search of evidence, however for now, Gérard Baudoux representing the mayor of Nice told press his client is not suspected of any crimes and that he is simply a witness in the case.

Ade Adeyinka