MARIGOT:--- Prosecutor Flavien Noailles lectured first Vice President Guillaume Arnell while presenting his arguments to the court as the AOT (Authorization of Temporary Occupation) trial continued on Friday. Vice Prosecutor Noailles told VP Arnell that if the members of the Executive Council did their jobs correctly then the Collectivity of St. Martin would function as it should. He further stated that Arnell told the court on Thursday that when he signed the AOT for Sindextour he had no knowledge and or experience about the functioning of the pole that was designated to him. Noailles said that Arnell has a right to say he has confidence in the people working for him but he also has an obligation to ensure that proper procedures are being followed because he is the one that signed the AOT granted to Sindextour. However, Noailles felt that "things" were happening behind Arnell's back that he did not know about. After lecturing Arnell he asked the panel consisting of three judges to acquit Arnell of all the charges that he was facing which were fraud and forgery. Arnell told the court that even though the prosecutor decided at the end to have him acquitted the damage done to his personal image and family is irreparable. He said everyone knows he was placed in garde à vue and was under judiciary control. "This entire case has caused a lot of stress to my wife, children and family but today I am here for my children." His lawyer Maitre Jean Yves Le Borgne showed no mercy for the prosecution when he presented his defense. Maitre Le Borgne said that the prosecution did not build their case on facts instead they used suspicion to destroy the image of his client. Maitre Le Borgne destroyed Prosecutor Noialles saying that he built a case based on suspicion and not on facts, he said the prosecution could have analyzed the documents he had before him prior to filing the charges against his client. Maitre Le Borgne also defended Norbert Luftman whom he said was picked upon simply because he is a wealthy and successful businessman.
Noailles did not share the same sentiments about the former director of Urbanism Jose Carti and Norbert Luftman. He said Carti worked hand in hand with Luftman to give Luftman what he wanted which was the renewal of the AOT. Noailles said that there is proof that Carti was in contact with Luftman because all of that was revealed on Thursday. He said Carti did not answer important questions on Thursday even though in his view he knew the answers to the questions that were posed to him. He said Carti knew there were Euros 514,000.00 in a trust account as rent payments and by granting Luftman the AOT, the COM would get that money. Therefore the decision taken to grant Luftman the AOT was political, Noailles said.
Noailles said that Luftman was paying 50,000.00 francs per year to the Collectivity/commune while he was subleasing the property to other developers for $10,000.00 a month. "Luftman was paying less that 600 francs per month to the Collectivity but he obtained his riches at Orient Bay by subleasing the lots," the vice prosecutor said in his arguments. He said Elisa Cohen and Philippe Just were the ones working to fill up Luftman's pockets and when they asked for their own AOT their requests were not even considered.
Noailles asked the court to sentence Josi Carti to two years suspended sentence with four years probation and to ban him from public service for a period of five years. Maitre Thierry Herzog felt that the prosecution did not prove their case and what happened to the three defendants was some sort of plot because according to Herzog there are emails between Cohen and one of the investigators. Maitre Herzog asked the court to fully acquit his client since the case presented by the prosecution had no merits.
Noailles made the same request for Norbert Luftman which is to condemn the businessman to two years suspended sentence with a four year probation period, he also asked the court to impose a fine of Euros 200,000.00 on the businessman.
Maitre Pradines told the court that his client Norbert Luftman did not commit any crimes. He said Luftman did what any businessman would do which is to go after the AOT simply because that is where he makes his living. He asked the court to fully acquit his client.
Maitre Jean Yves Le Borgne also came to the defense of Luftman by indicating to the court that it does not mean that Luftman committed any crime because he is a successful businessman. He said cases should not be built on suspicion but on facts and proof of the charges. Le Borgne said that the civil parties were not paying their rent for about 21 months and when Luftman tried to seize their account they had overdrafts, therefore the COM could not take the risk to grant an AOT to persons that could not pay their bills.
The court would render its decision on November 28th, 2013.