© AFP Archives | The Promenade des Anglais in the southern French city of Nice on July 14, 2017, the one-year anniversary of the attack.

Vincent Delhomel, the former secretary general of a non-profit set up to help victims of a terrorist attack on Bastille Day 2016 in the southern city of Nice, goes to court Friday on charges that he defrauded the organization he oversaw.

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It’s a trial that the victims of the Nice attack and their loved ones are awaiting with bated breath. And for good reason. Vincent Delhomel, the former secretary general and spokesman for the non-profit organisation “Promenade des Anges”, set up after the 2016 attack to benefit victims and their families, is going to trial over charges that he defrauded the organization for his own personal financial gain.

He is suspected of having submitted false reimbursement claims totaling somewhat less than 2,000 euros, and having paid himself from funds raised by selling charity bracelets at a marathon (which brought in a total of 7,300 euros).

On Wednesday, July 19, a municipal court ruled in his first hearing that Delhomel should be tried “quickly, given the sensitive nature of the case in this city [Nice]”, with a deadline of September 1.

Delhomel stepped down from his position with the charity in February after his alleged fraud was discovered, and was subsequently placed under “judicial control”, with his mobility restricted, since April 20. According to Promenade des Anges President Émilie Petitjean, there is no possibility for a mediated solution with a man she calls “a fraud”.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

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