Atalian Employee Convicted in Paris Housing Gas Pipe Corruption Scheme

The facts date back to the late 2000s, when Abdelali Boukhriss, as head of the gas sector for TFN, a subsidiary of the French cleaning giant Atalian, was entrusted with the renovation of the gas pipes of Paris Habitat. It was in this context that Boukhriss recruited craftsmen, including François Gomis. "Right away, he made me understand that in order to be able to work with them, I had to make small gifts, including a mobile phone," testifies this craftsman from Yvelines to Le Parisien.

After months of work without a contract and without remuneration, Gomis and his colleagues repeatedly demanded their due, before receiving transfers from Poland. Subsequently, the Yvelines craftsman decides to create his own company, hoping to win subcontracting contracts. But Boukhriss makes him the same request: "He told me that I owed him 500 euros per pipe already laid, and 1,000 euros for those to come." Gomis again firmly refuses.

The site is then suspended and Boukhriss refuses to pay Gomis for the work already done. "He even threatened to go after my family," denounces the business leader who says he suffered losses of around 300,000 euros and risks going bankrupt. The Yvelines man brings the case to the attention of Paris Habitat in an attempt to reach an amicable settlement. The public housing office, then led by Pierre-René Lemas, did not follow up. "They told me that this corruption was based only on vague allegations," says François Gomis, who eventually took the matter to court.

As part of the investigation for "corruption" opened, the Brigade for the Repression of Economic Crime (BRDE) of the Paris judicial police heard several witnesses who confirmed the facts. At the same time, the investigation conducted by Tracfin, the intelligence service specialized in financial flows, revealed that Boukhriss was making significant fund transfers to Morocco, his country of origin. Based on this information, his home, as well as the headquarters of TFN, were searched and his real estate assets were thoroughly examined.

The defendant owns two apartments in Créteil, a house in Bonneuil-sur-Marne, another in Saint-Rémy-Lès-Chevreuse (Yvelines), and a second home in Morocco. According to the justice system, he would have received a total of 530,000 euros in commissions. Placed in custody in 2017, he will be sentenced in July 2023 by the Créteil court to 18 months in prison with a suspended sentence, in the absence of the plaintiff François Gomis and his lawyer, Me Olivier Combe. Boukhriss appealed. For his part, Gomis filed an opposition to the judgment regarding the damages and interest. "Mr. Gomis has left a lot of energy and his health in this case. His moral prejudice is enormous," says his lawyer.