"I was trapped by my own feelings": a policewoman who helped her delinquent lover sentenced to four years in prison for corruption

The Draguignan Criminal Court heard a case worthy of a Netflix series yesterday afternoon.

A warrant officer from the Puget-sur-Argens gendarmerie brigade was dismissed for passive corruption, "misuse of the purpose of processing personal data" , "revealing information about an ongoing investigation" and "forgery of public documents" .

"This is one of the biggest corruption cases involving a gendarme in 20 years," prosecutor Laurence Barriquand did not hesitate to describe, emphasizing the "feeling of betrayal" and the "endangerment" that the behavior of Emmanuelle C., 37, has caused the institution.

Alongside the latter in the dock, her lover and delinquent seven years her junior took advantage of the benefits and other information provided by the mother to make prosper, among other things, the trafficking of stolen vehicles in which he actively participated.

Sexual relations on the premises

After five hours of debate, the two defendants were sentenced to four years' imprisonment with continued detention. Emmanuelle C. was also permanently banned from holding any public office and from any professional activity related to public safety.

The case came to light on February 23rd during proceedings for receiving stolen goods and refusing to comply. In police custody at the Puget-sur-Argens gendarmerie, Eric P. admitted to being part of a network of car thieves, just like Ali D. The latter had revealed to him that he was in contact with a policewoman who, for a fee, removed cars from the Foves ⁽¹⁾ database of stolen vehicles.

The details given by Eric P. were corroborated by the investigation of the General Inspectorate of the National Gendarmerie (IGGN) and the Marseille research brigade.

Since June 2022, Emmanuelle C. had been in an intimate relationship with Ali D., whom she met while filing a complaint for assault with a weapon. Ten days later, after she left police custody, they exchanged a kiss.

Then, over time, between two sexual encounters – including on the premises, sometimes filmed – information on ongoing investigations...

In 2024, after "bragging to friends" about dating a female police officer, Ali asked Emmanuelle to delete files on vehicles previously stolen by his accomplices. She did this on about thirty occasions, changing the procedure numbers along the way.

Furthermore, she gave her lover the addresses of Lexus and Toyota RAV4 owners, vehicles popular with the network, including that of a certain Sébastien Loeb. She also targeted Luc Alphand's villa on a map. Neither of the two racing drivers was ultimately the victim of theft.

A weapon stolen for love

"I did all this because I was in love with him," the defendant hiccups. "I was trapped by my own feelings. I was weak and naive."

Highly regarded by her superiors until the facts were revealed – she was due to be promoted to the rank of chief warrant officer within the year – Emmanuelle C. went so far as to give Ali a Pamas 9mm semi-automatic pistol stolen from the brigade at the end of January 2024.

At the request of the police officer, who had become frightened, it was returned to her 15 days later. The ID number was filed away... Ali also returned the uniform and flashing light she had stolen for him.

"After learning all this, we couldn't help but extrapolate," laments Lieutenant Colonel Priscillien Pittet, commander of the Draguignan departmental gendarmerie company, who was present at the hearing. "We worked on cases that she had compromised."

And Laurence Barriquand cites as an example these "numerous surveillances, including by drones, of drug dealing points which yielded nothing at the time of the events" . "We then wondered if there were not leaks, it was so systematic..."

" Get Ali D. out of her life and you will never see Emmanuelle C. in your dock ," Damien Balmeur pleaded in vain for the defense. "She is consumed by shame."

"Every situation stems from a combination of phenomena," said Bar President Jean-Louis Bernardi, representing Ali D.. "There was a two-year romantic relationship before the alleged offenses. There was never any scheming. They are here while the heads of the stolen car network are outside..."

In tears as the verdict was read out, Emmanuelle C. whispered that she would "never last four years" in detention.

1. File of reported objects and vehicles.