The lawyer Pascal Garbarini was in police custody, Thursday, May 12 in the morning, in the premises of the Ajaccio gendarmerie, where he had been summoned within the framework of an ongoing judicial investigation targeting the members of the team of Corsican criminals from the Petit Bar. Me Garbarini has long defended this gang suspected of having cut off Corse-du-Sud. The information was confirmed at World from several sources close to the investigation. Aged 58, this criminal from Corsica and based in Paris is known for having defended the Corsican nationalist Yvan Colonna. We do not yet know at this stage the precise reasons why the magistrates wish to hear him.
His placement in police custody occurs in the last phase of the investigation, opened in 2018 and conducted by magistrates of the specialized interregional jurisdiction of Marseille for acts of aggravated money laundering, non-justification of resources and participation in a criminal association. aiming for the Petit Bar. Several tens of millions of euros of suspicious financial flows to Hong Kong, Luxembourg or Malta have been brought to light and, according to justice, they would demonstrate the active search by this group, already convicted of “drug trafficking”, “attempt to ‘assassination’ or ‘extortion’, means of laundering the fruits of its activities. The investigation has already given rise to multiple indictments, including those of Antony Perrino, an important businessman on the island, and several figures from the island community.
Among them, Jacques Santoni, 44, presented as the leader of the Petit Bar gang. Incarcerated in the wake of his arrest in January 2021, he was finally released under judicial supervision in March due to his state of health, considered incompatible with detention. Convicted several times, he is now awaiting a trial at the assizes, before which he must appear for his possible involvement in the assassination of lawyer Antoine Sollacaro in October 2012.
First custody in 2013
During his last interrogation before the examining magistrates on March 22, Mr. Santoni had replied by silence to the approximately 800 questions – with the exception of three of them – which had been put to him. In addition to his place within the Petit Bar team, his supposed contacts within the police and the justice system, the origin of his funds allowing him to lead the way, his various investments, the magistrates tried to learn more about the development of its defense and its financing.
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