Revolving door in real estate: a former Parisian deputy sentenced

Mr. Missika, 73, appeared on Tuesday before the Paris judicial court as part of an appearance procedure with prior recognition of guilt (CRPC), a sort of French-style guilty plea. The sentence proposed by the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) and accepted by it was approved by the president of the 32nd financial chamber.

Deputy for innovation (2008-2014) to Bertrand Delanoë, then for town planning (2014-2020) during Anne Hidalgo's first mandate, Mr. Missika then joined a mission committee formed by the Novaxia real estate group as well as as an orientation and prospective committee of the Gecina real estate group.

This situation was denounced by the Parisian LFI opponent Danielle Simonnet, which led to the referral by the PS mayor Anne Hidalgo to the ethics commission of elected representatives of the Council of Paris.

She saw this as an ethical problem and a potential conflict of interest, leading to Mr. Missika's departure from his position and reports to the courts.

After initial denials during the investigation entrusted by the PNF to the Brigade for the Repression of Economic Delinquency (BRDE), Mr. Missika conceded on Tuesday at the bar "a bad interpretation of the law and having made a very serious mistake not to consult the ethics committee before entering into these contracts" with Novaxia and Gecina.

The financial prosecutor, for his part, affirmed that the former deputy was “in an objective situation of conflict of interest”. “It was not a mistake, there was an absence of good faith.”

But "the investigation also made it possible to rule out all suspicions of favoritism or a posteriori compensation for decisions taken by Mr. Missika in his capacity as town planning deputy", while the two companies had been entrusted with missions by the Paris town hall at the time when Mr. Missika was still at Ms. Hidalgo's side.

The financial prosecutor observed that Mr. Missika had “reimbursed” the disputed sums and announced that the presidents of Novaxia and Gecina were “subject to prosecution before the criminal court” because they “did not recognize the facts”.