FREE MIDI INFO. Gilles d'Ettore affair in Agde: who are the two big promoters indicted for corruption in Béziers ?

INFO MIDI LIBRE. The directors of two major real estate groups very active in the south of France have been placed under judicial supervision, after having agreed to pay for part of the wedding banquet of the clairvoyant Sophia Martinez, whom the former mayor and president of the Hérault-Méditerranée agglomeration consulted frantically.

It was a real bolt from the blue in the middle of the summer judicial torpor that the two judges of Béziers sounded last week, continuing to tenaciously investigate the sprawling corruption case uncovered in the spring in Agde, which earned Gilles d'Ettore and his ventriloquist clairvoyant Sophia Martinez, whom he consulted frantically, three months behind bars.

Raphaël Balland, the public prosecutor of Béziers, soberly announced in a press release on August 3 the indictment the day before for “corruption, abuse of corporate assets or trust" of "three company directors ; a real estate business developer and two real estate developers".

A wedding with more than 300 guests in a splendid Hérault property

As Midi Libre revealed on Friday, the three managers are suspected of having incurred significant expenses that hardly seem to correspond to the activity of their companies: they are said to have paid the bill, around 15,000 euros in total, for the wedding banquet of the clairvoyant Sophia Martinez, in August 2023, who had invited more than 300 people to a splendid property in Hérault for this wedding.

For the judges, this can only be a favor done to a close friend of Gilles d'Ettore, LR mayor of Agde for 25 years, and president of the Hérault Méditerranée agglomeration (20 municipalities, 350,000 inhabitants in season): a suspicious counterpart for the benefit of an elected official who plays a decisive role in real estate transactions affecting his municipality, these developers leading major programs there.

They spent 48 hours in police custody at the police station in Montpellier

And two of them are real estate heavyweights from the south of France. Olivier Ganivenq, who spent 48 hours in custody at the Montpellier police station and had to pay bail of 15,000 euros; after his indictment, is the CEO of Promeo, founded by his father in Sète in 1978. A group that claims on its website to build 1,200 new homes per year, which became famous for the construction of the Arbre Blanc building in Montpellier, and which is leading several projects in Agde: Faubourg 212 (38 apartments in the city center) and the Baie des Olivines (80 apartments).

No comment at Promeo

“We do not wish to comment on this matter” replied Promeo's communications department, contacted by Midi Libre. According to our information, Olivier Ganivenq would have paid a bill of nearly 5,000 euros for the fortune teller's wedding.

The other developer under investigation is Jean-Marc Leygue, 72, founding partner of the Montpellier group GGL, which claims a consolidated turnover of 300 million euros, says it builds 2,700 homes per year in France and sponsors the stadium hosting rugby in Montpellier, called GGL Stadium since 2018. He also paid a deposit, and can no longer go to Agde or contact the other protagonists in the case. GGL has several ongoing programs in Agde, such as the construction of 23 villas on land in the Colombe district, as well as in other municipalities in the Hérault-Méditerranée conurbation.

Strong contestation of the infringement at GGL

“Me Leygue was indicted for the payment requested after the marriage of half of an invoice that the elected official was unable to honor, for a total of 4900 € supported by his personal funds” specifies his lawyer, the president of the bar Iris Christol. “The indictment does not mention any agreed compensation and the investigation will be an opportunity to vigorously contest that an offence could have been committed on this occasion.”

The third head of the company is a real estate professional, based in Sète and with a financial background that is not comparable to the other two accused. But he also agreed to pay 4,500 euros for the wedding of the sultry clairvoyant from Agde.

"Mr. D'Ettore asked me to take charge of an invoice"

"In my capacity as a private business provider, I was led to meet the mayor of the commune of Agde for a real estate project for which the developer has not yet purchased the private land to date" he explains in a statement to Midi Libre. "This is my only project in the Agde area. As part of these relations, Mr. Ettore asked me to take charge of an invoice related to the wedding of one of his friends, whom I had met very briefly months before and who according to him was in a difficult financial situation. Faced with this request and for fear of tarnishing my relations with Mr. Mayor of Agde, I gave in and took charge of the invoice personally. This is the one and only time I have been asked for such a request."

According to our count, 14 people are now under investigation in this corruption case centered around the former mayor of Agde. The judicial news should continue to be busy on the station in the fall, with several other preliminary investigations having been opened in recent weeks by the Béziers prosecutor's office.

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