The deputy LFI, Carlos Bilongo, under the fire of justice

The deputy of Val-d'Oise, Carlos Bilongo, is in turmoil. The 32-year-old rebel is being investigated for suspicion of money laundering, tax evasion and misuse of corporate assets. He is said to have concealed just under 200,000 euros over the period 2018-2022, and is the subject of a procedure opened in mid-April following a report from Tracfin, Bercy's financial intelligence unit. According to BFMTV, the deputy would have received transfers to his bank accounts and collected several tens of thousands of euros in cash, while he declared to the HATVP that he did not receive any remuneration from the companies he set up. Asked last week, the person concerned seemed to be flabbergasted, assuring that he will be "perfectly transparent on all of these elements, both with the institutions and with public opinion".

On Wednesday, however, BFMTV revealed that Carlos Bilongo would also have "benefited until December 2022, six months after his election, from social housing that he sublet to one of his sisters in Villiers-le-Bel , in the Val-d'Oise, while at the same time he was the owner of two other apartments". A disturbing new revelation. Especially since last February, in line with the declarations of intent of the Insoumis, he denounced to the StreetPress media "the scourge" of the lack of social housing, which "allows crooked people to take advantage of people in distress" .

In his defense, this close friend of Jean-Luc Mélenchon says he acquired in 2018 “two homes with mortgages; one in rental investment (…) the other for (his) future personal accommodation involving heavy work which was carried out until (his) departure from the social housing in which (he resided) with (his) sister”. The deputy says he “informed the social landlord in writing and by bailiff in 2019 of all this information, who found nothing wrong with it”. If he claims not to have lived in this social housing when he was elected, he does not say on what date he left it or if he sublet it to one of his sisters.

Elected last June against the former socialist, François Pupponi, who joined the presidential majority, he has just published Black French, Editions Philippe Rey. This story of a family history shared between Congo and Villiers-le-Bel is also a response to a racist insult that fell from the ranks of the RN on the day of his first intervention in the National Assembly… But the revelations concerning him could project a another light on his journey.

In the Val-d'Oise, the housing affair is shocking. “How can you continue to keep social housing when you own it without being illegal? The work in his apartment lasted a few weeks. Very quickly, he received relatives, ”says a source. Others are surprised at the operating methods of its small businesses, specializing in sports coaching, driving license support or property management. With a professional baccalaureate and a license in marketing, he also taught in high school.

Among the Insoumis, another deputy from Val-d'Oise, Paul Vannier, judges "unbearable to see Carlos Bilongo nailed to the media pillory on the basis of illegal leaks transmitted by the prosecution or the investigating services". MP for Seine-Saint-Denis, Raquel Garrido, points to François Pupponi. "He's very hostile to her," she said. This “political aversion”, she says she experienced it “with Jean-Christophe Lagarde, who also used a media to try to eliminate us with Alexis Corbière”.

Basically, if she “knows everything about the file”, she defends her colleague. “It is not forbidden to set up businesses in this country, nor to invest in rental apartments. People are struggling to make a living.” François Pupponi, for his part, judges Raquel Garrido "completely barge". "I quit politics," he said. I don't know anything about Monsieur Bilongo's business. But if the technique of the Nupes is to defend themselves by accusing others, they will account for it in court!