• LFI MP Carlos Martens Bilongo is under investigation for "suspicion of laundering tax fraud" and "misuse of corporate assets".
  • The Pontoise prosecutor's office did not wish to communicate more details on the investigation, also opened on the charge of failure to declare to the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATVP).
  • 20 Minutes takes stock while, according to BMTV, investigators are sifting through several suspicious transactions and an undeclared account abroad that the MP would hold, according to BFMTV.

LFI deputy Carlos Martens Bilongo is under investigation for "suspicions of laundering tax fraud" and "abuse of social assets", announced Thursday the prosecutor's office of Pontoise. The announcement of the opening of the investigation comes on the day of the publication of the first book of the elect, Noir Français (Ed. Philippe Rey), testimony of a "kid from Villiers-le-Bel" on "his history made of struggles, survival strategies, intelligence of the field". "I am this 32-year-old, an associative activist in working-class neighborhoods. I know I'm disturbing! Because I am this black at work in the greatest French institutions, "he writes in conclusion. Here are three questions about this case that the young elected official says he does not know anything about.

Who is Carlos Martens Bilongo?

Carlos Martens Bilongo, 32, was elected in June 2022 under the Nupes label, ending the 14-year tenure of local baron François Pupponi, a socialist figure from Val-d'Oise who had joined the presidential party. The black deputy found himself in the news in November when RN deputy Grégoire de Fournas cut one of his interventions by launching: "Let him return to Africa!", causing an incident of rare magnitude at the Palais Bourbon.

Before his election, Carlos Martens Bilongo was a professor of economics, law and management in a high school in the Paris region. He was also involved in the associative world of Villiers-le-Bel, a popular town in the Val-d'Oise where he grew up. He became known in his department for his positions alongside environmental associations who denounce the project of the station of the future metro of Greater Paris on the Triangle of Gonesse.

What is he accused of?

LFI MP Carlos Martens Bilongo is under investigation for "suspicion of laundering tax fraud" and "misuse of corporate assets". According to BFMTV which revealed the information, the Insoumise is suspected of having concealed a little less than 200,000 euros from the authorities over the period 2018-2022 and is the subject of a procedure opened in mid-April following a report from Tracfin, the financial intelligence unit of Bercy.

The rebellious deputy Carlos Martens Bilongo would have, according to BFMTV, a time sublet his social housing to his sister while owning two apartments. Still according to the continuous news channel, the LFI deputy would have "benefited until December 2022, six months after his election, from social housing that he sublet to one of his sisters in Villiers-le-Bel, in the Val-d'Oise, while he was at the same time the owner of two other apartments".

What, exactly, is in the Tracfin report?

According to a source close to the case contacted by AFP, this social housing is indeed mentioned in the Tracfin report, which mainly concerns income not declared to the tax authorities. And according to BFMTV, investigators are sifting through several suspicious operations. The MP would have received transfers to his bank accounts and cashed several tens of thousands of euros in cash while he declared to the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATVP) not to receive any remuneration from his companies.

Tracfin also reported to the justice an undeclared account abroad of which the deputy would be holder, according to BFMTV. The Pontoise prosecutor's office did not wish to provide further details on the investigation, also opened on the charge of "failure to declare to the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life".

What is the MP's reaction?

Carlos Martens Bilongo said on Wednesday that he "fully respected the law". "Nothing has ever been hidden," he said, presenting exchanges with his landlord in 2019. About his housing, Carlos Martens Bilongo explained in a statement "to have benefited from social housing in accordance with (his) conditions of means", in 2013 "after the death of (his) mother, while (he) was (t) apprentice". "In 2018, I bought two homes with mortgages; one in rental investment (...) the other for my future personal housing involving heavy work that was carried out until I left the social housing in which I lived with my sister, "he continues.



The MP claims to have "informed the social landlord in writing and by way of bailiff in 2019 of all this information which found nothing to complain about". "I left social housing to live in the apartment at the end of my work and my sister was able to vacate social housing at the end of 2022. So I fully respected the law in all respects and I did not live in social housing after being elected, "he says, without mentioning a possible sublease to his sister.

  • Society
  • Villiers-le-bel
  • Carlos Martens Bilongo
  • La France Insoumise (LFI)
  • Social housing