Lyon: suspected of revolving door, Gérard Collomb’s former chief of staff finally released

The end of a three-year soap opera? Referred to the Lyon judicial court for the offense of revolving door, the former chief of staff of Gérard Collomb was acquitted.

The prosecution accused Arabelle Chambre-Foa, now aged 64, of having taken advantage of her activity with the former mayor and president of the Lyon metropolitan area to return to the private sector, which she contested. The judges agreed with him.

After the 2020 defeat, the person concerned bounced back as director of La Fabrique de la cite, a think tank, a subsidiary of the construction giant Vinci. This appointment had led to her being singled out by the regional chamber of accounts in a 2023 report. The financial magistrates estimated that she had had to “work on numerous files” in relation to Vinci as part of her functions with Gérard Collomb, in particular during the major urban redevelopment projects of the Confluence and the Part-Dieu district. They had made a report to the public prosecutor.

Arabelle Chambre-Foa assured that she only took care of the councilor's agenda, while the CRC highlighted the presence of an advisor dedicated to town planning and development in the team she supervised. The financial magistrates also questioned his time at the head of the departmental and metropolitan fire and rescue service the day after the election, and before his arrival at Vinci.

The CRC had also criticized this passage at the SDMIS, denouncing “a biased recruitment process” and compensation twenty times higher than that provided for his grade. The financial magistrates saw it as a rebound position which would have allowed him to apply for the Fabrique de la Cité without having to declare it to the HATVP. Her lawyer, Me Jean-Félix Luciani, pointed out at the hearing the lack of evidence against his client. Questioned by Le Figaro, he welcomed a “liberating decision.” It remains to be seen whether the prosecution will appeal this judgment.