Owner of dozens of unsanitary apartments in Marseille, an ex-policeman and his alleged henchman will be tried in November. In all, in his own name or via real estate companies (SCI), this former police officer, who had worked in an administrative detention center, owned in Marseille and its surroundings a dozen buildings.

Only four of these buildings will earn him to appear from November 13 to 16 before the criminal court, a date set Friday at a so-called pre-trial hearing. Like his alleged henchman, who is responsible according to the prosecution for collecting rents, including by being threatening or violent, he will be tried for subjecting the occupants of these dwellings to housing conditions incompatible with human dignity and for endangering the lives of others.

Marseille City Hall civil party, a first

The two men face ten years in prison and a fine of 300,000 euros. The investigation began after a fire broke out in one of the buildings involved in the proceedings. The investigators had discovered unsanitary apartments, with dangerous electrical installations, where cockroaches or bedbugs swarmed.

These dwellings were occupied by foreigners, undocumented or asylum-seekers, with families, often with minor children. It was impossible for them to refuse these offers found by word of mouth - rents can go up to 600 euros per month - because they could not find other proposals, they assured investigators.

During the investigation, the owner assured in particular that he would have carried out the necessary work if he had been aware of the condition of these dwellings. Marseille City Hall announced that it would be a civil party, as in two other cases of substandard housing, for the first time.

  • Miscellaneous facts Marseille
  • Marseille
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  • Poor housing
  • Policeman
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  • Miscellaneous facts