French Lawmaker Faces Prosecution for Misuse of Association Funds

This investigation was opened last November by the Rennes prosecutor’s office following a report from TRACFIN (anti-money laundering unit) which reported suspicious movements of the "Collectif Intermède" association he headed between 2006 and 2017.

He "is accused of having used for personal or undue purposes, from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2017, funds from the association for an amount of at least 21,930 euros," the Rennes prosecutor’s office said in a statement, specifying that this corresponds to food expenses for an amount of 15,000 euros, expenses in hardware stores, clothing, or even hotels and the payment of fines.

Questioned by the newspaper Ouest-France, Mustapha Laabid explained that he was accused "for example of not having canceled an internet subscription following a move," acknowledging however having made a single "cash withdrawal of 400 € from the association’s account. I paid for a night’s hotel stay in Morocco because my card wasn’t working. I reimbursed it right away. I also had to transfer a total of 8,000 € from my account to the association’s account to pay the employee!"