Apollonia trial ends: decision in early 2026 for this vast real estate scam

Given the size of the case, which includes 15 defendants and some 760 civil parties, the decision will be handed down in seven months, on January 15. The Marseille Criminal Court "needs time," explained its president, Azanie Julien-Rama.

Apollonia is the name of this wealth management consulting firm based in Aix-en-Provence. In the early 2000s, it encouraged its clients, most of whom were doctors, to acquire real estate—up to forty for some—that was supposed to be self-financing through the professional furnished rental (LMP) status. In total, more than 5.300 real estate development lots were sold, for an estimated loss of €1,2 billion.

Many hoped to build up assets and prepare for retirement, but for many, hopes of profitability have turned into excessive debt, banking bans and the inability to pass anything on to their children.

These nine weeks of trial have allowed us to measure the repercussions of such a scam on people's lives. All parties will remember the story of this Grenoble gynecologist, Pascale Hoffmann-Cucuz, who lost her husband, undermined and self-medicated at high doses because of this affair. And her shame at having been fooled.

Doctors, dentists, physiotherapists—easy targets because they were wealthy and absorbed in their careers. But "you have nothing to be ashamed of having succumbed to," the prosecutor tried to reassure them, because Apollonia used "an extremely sophisticated process."

His salespeople, with their highly polished speeches, took care of everything for their clients, right down to signing powers of attorney stamped by notaries for sales. Behind the scenes, they disguised the real debt to the banks, the properties were overvalued, and the interest rates were high. Why? To achieve the highest possible commission of 15%.

Fair or "mind-boggling" requisitions?

The Badache couple, founders of Apollonia, appeared alongside 12 other defendants—their son, former salespeople, former employees, three notaries, and a lawyer—made no secret of the fact that they earned a lot of money. A private jet, a palace in Marrakech, a chalet in Switzerland, a villa overlooking Cassis, caviar, jewelry: he, the former shoe salesman, and she, the former beautician, acquired up to 50 properties.

But, at the hearing, they blamed everyone else. Jean Badache, 70, nevertheless "regretted that these people are in the shit," livening up the hearings with phrases as flowery as they were clumsy. "If we're convicted, they'll leave us with our backsides ripped like a Christmas turkey," he said.

For one of his lawyers, Frédéric Monneret, this is "a defensive attitude" and a defendant, however "bastard" he may be, must see his guilt proven.

For the defense, there is doubt, not to mention the unreasonable delay in trying them 20 years after the events. They therefore pleaded for acquittal. This was also a way of responding to demands they deemed "staggeringly harsh."

Public prosecutor Mathieu Vernaudon had requested the same sentence on Monday for Jean and Viviane Badache: ten years in prison with immediate incarceration due to the risk of absconding and a €2,5 million fine, for a total of €XNUMX million. While he requested lesser sentences for the other defendants, he also requested prison terms with a committal order for some salespeople and the lawyer.

On Friday, at the end of the trial, only a handful of defendants offered words of compassion for the civil parties. "They don't realize the magnitude of what they did. Some, I think, don't regret it," Jean Imbert, vice-president of the victims' association, said on the sidelines of the hearing.

However, he said the trial allowed him to "get to the bottom of an extremely complex case." Like others, he regretted the absence of the promoters.

Everyone will now have to wait until early 2026 to find out the decision on the defendants' guilt and possibly a first step towards compensation.