He will spend the night in jail. The mayor of Barcarès (Pyrénées-Orientales) and vice-president of the agglomeration of Perpignan, Alain Ferrand, was imprisoned on Tuesday for “non-compliance” with his judicial control as part of an investigation for extortion. The arrest of the elected official (various right) took place on Tuesday “as part of the execution of an arrest warrant from the investigating magistrate following multiple and repeated violations of his judicial control”, indicated to the prosecutor of Marseille, Dominique Laurens.
The 62-year-old elected official was imprisoned in Perpignan prison, the prosecution pointed out, specifying that he had to be transferred to Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) to be presented to the investigating judge of the Specialized Interregional Court ( Jirs) in charge of this file. The prosecution did not specify the nature of the judicial review violations. He was arrested at Barcarès, according to a local source.
Indicted last May
This figure of the right of the Pyrénées-Orientales had been indicted in May 2021 for extortion in an organized gang, misappropriation and complicity in the destruction of evidence, committed over the period of 2015-2020. He was then placed under judicial control, accompanied by the payment of a deposit and a ban on going to the Pyrénées-Orientales department. This last measure was then relaxed, allowing him to go on certain days to his department, to his town and to Perpignan.
Elected for the first time in 1995 as mayor, Alain Ferrand and his wife Joëlle succeeded each other at the town hall of Barcarès, according to the ineligibility of one and the other. In 1999, Alain Ferrand was sentenced to three years of ineligibility for misuse of corporate assets. He was also subsequently convicted of illegal taking of interest and tax evasion. During the municipal elections of 2020, Alain Ferrand was re-elected hands down, from the first round, as mayor of Barcarès, 6,000 inhabitants year-round but whose population can be multiplied by ten in summer.