Gilles Bourdouleix, the mayor of Cholet, has been in police custody since Tuesday morning in the premises of the Cholet police station. The Angers prosecutor requested the indictment of Gilles Bourdouleix as well as that of his wife and two other people.
The mayor of Cholet (Maine-et-Loire), Gilles Bourdouleix was once again placed in police custody on Tuesday, confirming information from Ouest-France.
The prosecutor of Angers, Éric Bouillard, announced on Wednesday that he had requested the indictment of the city councilor and three other people, including his wife Natacha Poupet-Bourdouleix.
This police custody took place within the framework of an investigation by the judicial police for abuse of corporate assets and breach of trust.
According to Éric Bouillard, the investigators noted a transfer of money from two associations and two civil real estate companies (SCI) to the personal account of the mayor of Cholet.
The prosecutor salutes the remarkable work of the Angers judicial police on this financial investigation.
During their investigations, the investigators discovered two SCIs in Cholet and were interested in the banking relations between these companies and two associations close to the political party chaired by Gilles Bourdouleix for a few years.
They notice a transfer of money between these entities, including a sum greater than 200 000 € paid to the party of Gilles Bourdouleix. Funds which have partly ended their trajectory on the account of the mayor of Cholet and would have enabled him to repay a personal loan up to 45 000 €.
Several direct debits from an LLC also raise questions and could constitute abuse of corporate assets.
“Gilles Bourdouleix made a rpartial knowledge of the facts”, specifies Éric Bouillard.
After six months of investigation, a few questions still remain unanswered and will be dealt with by the investigating judge.
Three other people are also the subject of a request for indictment: Natacha Poupet-Bourdouleix, wife of the mayor of Cholet, Michel Champion, former deputy mayor, and Benoît Martin, lawyer associated with Gilles Bourdouleix and former municipal councilor.
All three were also placed in police custody so that the judicial police could carry out several searches authorized by the judge of freedoms “without consent”notably in the law firm of Gilles Bourdouleix.
The charges relate to concealment of breach of trust and corporate assets for Natacha Poupet-Bourdouleix. Michel Champion and Benoît Martin are the subject of a request for indictment for acts of complicity.
The prosecutor recalls, however, that the indictment does not amount to referral to the criminal court. He announces that the release of the detainees is in progress.
Gilles Bourdouleix has already been prosecuted for illegal taking of interest during a vote in municipal council. Judgment in this case is expected on Friday, January 20. LThe prosecution requested eight months suspended prison sentence and a five-year ineligibility sentence.
The mayor of Cholet is not his first police custody, nor his first escapades. Accustomed to contentious remarks, he has already been convicted in July 2020 for public insults against Ouest-France, or in June 2022 for defamation of the National Basketball League.
