"I didn't know she was an employee": at the trial of the former directors of "Le Canard enchaîné", the open wounds of the "Palmipede"

Story Two former owners of the satirical weekly, a former cartoonist and his partner, suspected of having benefited from a fictitious job, resulting in losses of up to €1.5 million for the newspaper, have been on trial since Tuesday at the Paris Criminal Court.
A copy of "Le Canard enchaîné" at a newsstand in Paris, April 26, 2023. MAGALI COHEN/HANS LUCAS VIA AFP
It could be called the tables turned. From Tuesday, July 8 to Friday, July 11, the trial of Michel Gaillard and Nicolas Brimo, two former historical directors of the "Canard enchaîné , " the former cartoonist André Escaro, and his partner Edith Vandendaele, will take place. Ironically, the facts alleged are the same as those revealed by the satirical weekly concerning François Fillon during the 2017 presidential campaign: the fictitious jobs of his wife Penelope.
Since Tuesday, the defendants have been appearing before the 11th chamber of the Paris Criminal Court for "misuse of corporate assets" - the public prosecutor requested that the facts be reclassified as "breach of trust" on Wednesday, the second day of the hearing - for having allegedly created a fictitious job for the cartoonist's wife at "Palmipede".
In May 2022, journalist Christophe Nobili, who participated in the revelations of “l…

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