The former deputy came out of his interrogation overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, while the police custody of the policeman, Anouar Bouhadjela, was lifted on Wednesday at the end of the day, the prosecution said.
On the other hand, the police custody started on Tuesday of a third man, a former collaborator of Mr. Lagarde, continued Thursday, according to the prosecution.
Jean-Christophe Lagarde, boss of the UDI and ex-deputy, beaten by Raquel Garrido in the legislative elections in Seine-Saint-Denis in June, had been arrested at his home on Wednesday morning, then placed in police custody.
The policeman, also called Noam Anouar, had been taken into custody on Tuesday. He is seconded to the town hall of Drancy (Seine-Saint-Denis), former stronghold of Mr. Lagarde led since 2017 by his wife Aude Lavail-Lagarde.
These police custody intervened in the investigation into the publication in June on the Point website of an article by journalist Aziz Zemouri unduly accusing the couple of having exploited an undocumented cleaning lady, which the two elected officials had immediately firmly denied. “It’s all fake,” they protested.
The article was withdrawn the next day and the newspaper admitted in an address to readers that it had “turned out to be false” and “a lie”.
On June 29, the Paris public prosecutor’s office opened a preliminary investigation for fraud in an organized gang, forgery and use of forgery, identity and data theft and entrusted the investigations to the Brigade for the repression of delinquency against the person (BRDP).
This investigation examines three complaints filed by the couple Garrido-Corbière, Aziz Zemouri and Jean-Christophe Lagarde.
The journalist targets in his complaint the former UDI deputy Jean-Christophe Lagarde and Anouar Bouhadjela.
It was, according to his account, this policeman who had contacted him at the end of May to put him in touch with a woman claiming to be a household help, undeclared and without papers, of the couple of deputies.
For Mes Nabila Asmane and Vincent Brengarth, Mr. Bouhadjela’s lawyers, “Mr. Zemouri’s complaint is a smokescreen to discard the obvious lack of investigations he has shown, while crucifying one from its sources”.
The boss of the UDI has filed a complaint for breach of trust.
