Brigitte Barèges, maire (Les Républicains, ex-UMP) de Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne) was called into police headquarters and placed under arrest in the enquiry into misuse of public funds. Her office said it was not a surprise as the case dates from before the municipal elections last year.
She is suspected of paying a journalist to write favourable articles about her for a local newspaper Le Petit Journal and using public funds to buy copies for free distribution in Montauban during the election. She was banned from public office for 12 months for irregularities with her election expenses, a sentence later lifted on appeal, though the court did not clear her of the offence.
comments to taglines82@gmail.com