This search, which took place on Wednesday at the headquarters of the private group of Ehpad, follows the investigation opened in April on suspicion of institutional mistreatment or financial offences.
The headquarters of Orpea and the regional management of the group were raided on Wednesday as part of an investigation into suspicions of institutional abuse and financial offenses in its establishments for dependent elderly people. At 9 a.m., a dozen gendarmes from the Versailles Research Section and the Central Office for the Fight against Damage to the Environment and Public Health (OCLAESP) entered the company’s headquarters in Puteaux, in the Hauts-de-Seine, noted an AFP journalist.
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The management of Orpea confirmed to AFP that a search was “In progressat head office and in its regional departments. About 200 gendarmes were mobilized for these operations, according to a source familiar with the matter. After the revelation of the searches, Orpea shares fell by nearly 5% on the Paris Stock Exchange.
According to another source close to the investigation, these searches aim to “carry out checks” in the investigation opened in April by the Nanterre prosecutor’s office, after a report from the government following the publication of the book The Gravediggers by Victor Castanet. In this book published in January, the independent journalist denounced in particular the mistreatment of residents and the misuse of public funds. These dysfunctions were partly confirmed in a report commissioned in the wake of the government, which demanded the restitution of public grants allegedly diverted from their purposes. “Justice finally takes the measure of this public health scandal“, welcomed after the announcement of the searches the lawyer Fabien Arakelian, representing several families who filed a complaint in Nanterre and elsewhere in the country. “Hope this continues“, he added to AFP. Requested, the parquet floor of Nanterre did not wish to communicate immediately.
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Complaints against Korian
In addition to the investigation opened in April, Orpea has also been the subject of an investigation since February for “forgery and use of forgery and violation of labor legislation by misuse of fixed-term contracts“. The proceedings have since been joined. Investigators are also digging into numerous complaints: a good part of the salvo of the 80 complaints filed in April by lawyer Sarah Saldmann on behalf of residents’ families, as well as other complaints, from other lawyers, and received even before publication of the bookThe Gravediggers“. In addition, the former general manager of the group for more than ten years, Yves Le Masne, sacked at the end of January, was heard in free hearing Tuesday as part of an investigation opened by the national financial prosecutor’s office (PNF) for “insider tradingconcerning his resale of shares, shortly before the publication of Victor Castanet’s book. “The investigation continues“, soberly indicated the PNF on Wednesday, confirming the end of the hearing of the former leader on Tuesday.
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Faced with numerous criticisms and inquiries, Orpea launched in MayStates Generalto collect the grievances of its residents: about fifty establishments organize meetings within them, and a digital platform has been set up to receive suggestions. Orpea has promised a report on these debates in the fall. The scandal also affects a direct competitor of Orpea, Korian. Thirty complaints against Korian nursing homes, in particular for “manslaughter“, were filed before a dozen prosecutors in several regions, lawyer Sarah Saldmann said on Tuesday. These complaints against X come from 18 families of residents, for acts of “endangering the life of others“, of “no assistance to the person in danger” and D'”manslaughter“. The Korian group indicated in a press release that it “is unaware of the content of these complaints and therefore cannot comment» and recalls that «all serious situations brought to (his) knowledge are dealt with and systematically declared to the authorities“. Wednesday morning, Korian lost more than 9% on the Paris Stock Exchange.
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