We will not attack the state’s financial strength with impunity! That’s the message from local authorities who are on the trail of fraudsters. Denier after denier, the civil services and the public prosecutor’s offices of Basse-Terre and Pointe-à-Pitre are working to recover the fruits of the various frauds in the field of public finances. The disputes identified have amounted to more than 4 million euros since January 1st. An update on CODAF’s actions and results was provided last week.
Fraud in public finances and cases of illegal work are numerous in Guadeloupe.
This emerges from the preliminary assessment of the Anti-Fraud Operational Committee (CODAF) for the year 2023, presented on November 16 in the presence of the Prefect of the Guadeloupe Region, Xavier Lefort, prosecutor at the Basse-Terre Court of Justice. Xavier Sicot and the prosecutor at the Pointe-à-Pitre court, Caroline Calbo.
CODAF actors meet three times a year to plan coordinated controls and share the information necessary to detect fraud situations. A hunt that mobilizes several state agencies and the public prosecutor’s offices of Basse-Terre and Pointe-à-Pitre.
During last week’s plenary session, the figures for 2023 (January 1 to November 16) were announced.
We learn that 244 companies were checked and 801 people were interviewed as part of the 63 inspections carried out. Following these actions, 131 people were discovered in illegal work situations, 9 situations of concealment of activities, 10 situations of undocumented aliens (EST) and 30 aliens in an irregular situation (ESI).
These situations and verbalizable actions were identified in different areas of activity, starting in the hotel-café-restaurant sector (56.5% of cases), but also in the security and security sector (14%), as well as in grocery stores and “lolos” (8th .5%).
There is no question of allowing such practices to continue in the archipelago.
Once the fraud has been discovered, the state services and the public prosecutor’s offices of Basse-Terre and Pointe-à-Pitre will initiate the appropriate procedures.
The Union for the Collection of Social Security Contributions and Family Allowances (URSSAF) made adjustments for “illegal work” amounting to €363,291.
The General Directorate of Public Finances (DGFIP) imposed fines of up to 97,500 euros on offenders for “non-compliant funds”.
Damage amounting to €1,649,209.60 in fraudulent social benefits was discovered.
In the name of protecting people’s health, emergency administrative closures of catering establishments were decided after serious hygiene violations were discovered.
And as part of an aggressive criminal policy, prosecutors in turn carried out seizures of so-called “criminal” assets following fraud in public finances; This dispute amounts to €2,299,976.13
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CODAF is the local authority responsible for combating public finance fraud in all its forms. It is a real network between state services (prefecture, police, tax, customs, labor and civil protection administrations, ARS) and social protection organizations (CGSS, CAF, Pôle Emploi, etc.), which allows the actions of all actors involved to be coordinated This essential task is to maintain the financial and redistribution capabilities of the state (Source: Prefecture of Guadeloupe).