Former French official jailed for Chinese wedding scam that saw ex-mayor commit suicide
PUBLISHED : Friday, 08 January, 2016, 9:50am
UPDATED : Friday, 08 January, 2016, 12:14pm
Agence France-Presse in Tours
Lise Han (left) was convicted of corruption in the “Mariages Chinois” scandal, that also saw the former mayor of Tours, Jean Germain, commit suicide. Germain is pictured at right with Chinese wedding tourists in 2009. Photos: AFP
A corruption trial over Chinese wedding trips to the French city of Tours has ended with a 30-month jail sentence for a former official, at the culmination of a scandal that also saw an ex-mayor take his own life.
Lise Han, originally from Taiwan, was sentenced after being found guilty of fraud and mishandling public funds by a court in the French city of Tours.
The court heard earlier that while she was working at City Hall on tourism issues, she was also running a private company organising the so-called wedding trips in France between 2007 and 2011.
Scam: Lise Han at the court in Tour. Photo: AFP
The trips did not include a real ceremony but Chinese couples travelled long distances and paid large sums for what were billed as “romantic wedding” packages and were photographed in wedding attire in stunning locations, including the Tours City Hall.
Fraud: Lise Han. Photo: AFP
Although Han had officially resigned from her job as head of the organising group, Time/Lotus Bleu, she was accused of continuing to run the firm while at City Hall, which was in turn subcontracting the work to her firm, netting hundreds of thousands of euros.
The sentencing came after another accused in the case, a former mayor of Tours, committed suicide.
Jean Germain, a close ally of President Francois Hollande, was found dead in the garage next to his house just moments before the trial was due to begin in April 2015, having shot himself with a hunting rifle.
The 67-year-old ex-mayor had been due to stand trial for alleged complicity. Han was a member of his staff.
Han’s husband were also convicted in the case, as were two other former city officials.
Those found guilty have been ordered to jointly compensate the city of Tours to the tune of 500,000 euros (US$550,000), as well as pay 30,000 euros in damages for the stain on the city’s image.
