“They spent their time playing with fire. At some point, it’s very simple, when you play with fire, you get burned.. After having revoked the placement under electronic bracelet of Balkany, the prosecutor of Evreux did not mince his words last week. This Monday, the burn arrived: justice decided that Patrick Balkany was going to be imprisoned, this very day, in the prison of Fleury-Mérogis. The case of his wife Isabelle, “still in hospital at the moment” according to the prosecutor after a possible suicide attempt, will be examined later.
Last Thursday, at midday, the Rouen Court of Appeal confirmed the judgment of the Evreux sentence enforcement court (Eure), which decided in December to revoke the Balkany spouses’ placement under an electronic bracelet. For the couple, assigned to residence in their property in Giverny (Eure) since March 2021 after their conviction for tax evasion, the decision is synonymous with prison. It is precisely the legal consequences of this revocation of the electronic bracelet that were at the heart of the appeal of the former elected officials of the western suburbs. Justice had the choice between immediate imprisonment and a delay. So she opted for the first scenario.
They are reluctant to repay their debts
In an eight-page judgment dated February 3, the Rouen Court of Appeal detailed the multiple breaches, in particular of Isabelle Balkany, 74, of the obligations imposed on her as part of her conviction for tax evasion. It’s about arm of honor, about “vehement” even “outrageous”. The Balkany, would have, according to several figures of Levallois-Perret, increased visits to the city of Hauts-de-Seine including outside their hours of authorized outings. The Balkany spouses did not “never accepted the constraints inherent in house arrest under electronic surveillance”, considers the court, which raises their “vehement or ironic attitude and remarks, sometimes outrageous or even outrageous” towards prison administration staff or the sentence enforcement judge.
But above all, to justify its decision, the Rouen Court of Appeal points out that the Balkany spouses did not respect their main obligation, namely “to pay the sums due to public finances, and this in spite of” of one “very large tax debt”. The former LR mayor of Levallois-Perret, 73, and his wife owe 5.3 million euros to the tax authorities, in addition to a sum of 766,759 euros specific to Isabelle Balkany. However, they have “very comfortable incomes (more than 12,000 euros per month)» and would have “could make their choice to reduce their current lifestyle […] in order to settle the sums due., underlines the court, which lists their residence of 500 m² in Giverny, a “foot-to-earth” in Levallois and “a full-time domestic worker”. It is therefore an understatement to say that Isabelle Balkany’s proposal to repay the couple’s debts by monthly transfers of 500 euros did not satisfy the judges.
In the wake of the revocation of electronic bracelets, Thursday, Patrick Balkany was invited on television to say all the bad things he thought of the court decision. Assuring that he had always respected the rules of summons, despite the hundred alerts raised by the judicial authorities, he explained above all that his state of health did not allow him to be imprisoned. He who had just been released from a previous stay in prison for health reasons in February 2020. During the weekend, Patrick Balkany thus made public a medical certificate dated January 20, 2022 stating that “Mr. Patrick Balkany’s state of health is medically incompatible with his detention”. In this regard, the prosecutor assures that the decision confirming the imprisonment of the former baron LR had been taken “informed”. Balkany “will have the opportunity to see the medical service. The management of the prison administration has proposed an establishment which allows for 24-hour medical monitoring. she even added.
Update : at 3:35 p.m., with additional context.