She certainly did not imagine a destiny as a whistleblower. Houria Aouimeur, 53, has always preferred discretion, like her career, in the shadow of employers. She did not think, either, that one day she would need close security, or have to vent in front of investigators to reveal the secrets of a system where billions of euros flow freely, in a certain opacity. Houria Aouimeur did not envisage, finally, being in a position to be dismissed for gross negligence, four years following his arrival at the head of the Unédic-AGS delegation.
“I have the feeling of being the subject of a real ‘manhunt’ for reasons as delirious as they are unmentionable”, she confides in Monde, who met her for a long time. Sometimes she breaks down, wipes away a few tears. Her story, supported by numerous testimonies and a large number of documents, sheds harsh light on the strange practices of an underground world, where all methods seem permitted, according to her, to embezzle hundreds of millions of euros, on the backs of employees of bankrupt companies. Houria Aouimeur is now the woman through whom the scandal happens.
At the end of 2018, this trained lawyer landed an enviable position: national director of the AGS, the Wage Guarantee Agency, a little-known mechanism that allows employees of the many French companies placed in receivership each year (42,000 in 2022) to continue to receive their remuneration. The sums brewed by this social shock absorber are colossal. Financed by employers’ contributions, the AGS has paid, over the last thirteen years, 24 billion euros.
Essential precision: the AGS is not in direct contact with the employees. It is the 300 legal representatives listed in France – accompanied by a cohort of lawyers, experts and advisers of all kinds – who receive the funds, which they are then responsible for redistributing to employees. THE ” market “ of failing firms is, according to the formula of Mme Aouimeur, “a gigantic cheese”. Which stirs up lusts. To the point, she assures in substance, of being the scene of many excesses.
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Shortly following the appointment of Mr.me Aouimeur, the Court of Auditors notes, in a report of February 2019, “ambiguities” in the wage guarantee scheme and a “strong dependency” vis-à-vis judicial officers. At the same time, Houria Aouimeur became aware of an audit that she had ordered, upon taking office, from the firm EY. Indeed, she recalls, “pretty quickly, the first rumors of embezzlement” had reached him.
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