The Toulouse group Caso Patrimoine, owned by the Monné sisters, has just acquired a prestigious Parisian building for 16.2 million euros. A property sold by a pension fund and whose initial sale transaction is at the heart of a judicial investigation opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office.
After the acquisition of the building of the former UGC cinema, on the Roosevelt alleys in Toulouse, nothing seems to satiate the appetite of the Monné sisters. Figures of Toulouse real estate and daughters of former developer Robert Monné, Sophie and Caroline Monné recently acquired a Parisian building in the chic 16th arrondissement for a value of €16.2 million. But what may look like a golden deal is in fact marred by many gray areas around the sale of this property of 1,100 m² of living space, located rue Boissière.
Fraud, misappropriation and use of forgery…
Recently, the Paris prosecutor’s office opened a judicial investigation for “organized gang scam”, “embezzlement”, “forgery and use of forgery”, targeting the main pension fund for self-employed workers, the interprofessional pension and insurance fund old age of the liberal professions (Cipav). This organization, the initial owner of this Haussmannian building, to which nearly 200,000 contributors are attached, is in the crosshairs of justice. The Parisian examining magistrate is particularly interested in the questionable conditions of sale of this opulent building. Initially sold for 11.5 million euros to a Parisian holding company, La Financière du Grand Palais, the building was then sold in the spring of 2022 by a subsidiary of this holding company, FGP Conseils, for 4.7 million euros. euros more expensive, to the Toulouse group Caso Patrimoine owned by the Monné sisters. With a comfortable margin of nearly €5 million. Following this transaction, FGP Conseils disappeared from the landscape, deregistered from the trade and companies register, on December 8, 2022. At the head of these two companies, the manager did not respond to our contact request. Heavy renovation work began in February 2022 in this building, which houses six apartments on as many floors.
The pension fund defends itself
This might justify the increase in the resale price. Problem: might this work be carried out in its entirety until June 2022, the date on which Caso Patrimoine acquires the building? Today, part of this building is still under renovation.
“The sale of the building in question for an amount of 11.5 million was carried out in compliance with the regulatory framework. The valuation was carried out by a specialized external service provider, retained within the framework of a public contract, in BNP Paribas Real Estate. This valuation is consistent with the amount of the sale. As for any investments made by the buyer following the sale by Cipav, or any building permits filed following the sale, they do not concern not the Cipav”, answers the pension fund regarding the sale of its property. The Toulouse Monné sisters who bought this property 4.7 million euros more expensive than the initial sale price, did not wish to comment.
Investigation of a transaction
On January 17, the judge in charge of this case ordered a search of the headquarters of Cipav, in Paris, to search for documents relating to the sale but also in connection with the management of the real estate assets of this pension fund and its accounting. The Cipav info collective, which for many years has been warning regarding “the existence of undue contributions” collected by this organization, wonders if this money does not ultimately serve the private interests of Cipav and its wealthy real estate. In any case, this is what the courts are trying to determine, through the sale of the building on rue Boissière. A sale carried out “without a call for tenders”, estimates the lawyer of Cipav info, Me Valérie Flandreau. In this very chic sector of Paris, the price per square meter is estimated at around €13,000 by real estate professionals. With an area of 1,100 m², the value of the property exceeds 14 million euros.
According to a pre-estimate made by a professional that La Dépêche requested, via a specialized site, the “high” value (net selling price), reached 12.625 million euros.
