Yesterday Tuesday, the fifth day of hearing in the case of the false furniture sold in particular in Versailles, was devoted in the morning to the pleadings of the lawyers of the civil parties and in the afternoon to the requisitions of the prosecutor. It is first Corinne Hershkovitch, the lawyer of the Palace of Versailles, who rises to give his point of view on the 4 disputed lots acquired between 2008 and 2012 by the public establishment.
It recalls the mission of remembering and conservation of the curators of the castle and stresses that “Bill Pallot and Bruno Desnoues were the pillars, were associated there”the first was there Reference in terms of royal furniture, the second restored Louis XVI’s bed. “They could not ignore that the allegedly false furniture had been acquired by the castle” she asserts. The lawyer requests that the court recognize them guilty of deception and condemns them to reimburse the 200,000 euros received for the sale of the shepherdess stamped sené for Madame Élisabeth to the Château de Montreuil, the other furniture having been reimbursed.
Me Jean-Jacques Neuer is the lawyer for the Guerrand-Hermès family who had acquired in 2008 a Jacob chair-allegedly delivered for the cabinet of the meridian of Marie-Antoinette in Versailles-for the sum of € 530,000 through Eric de Saint-Seine. He requests compensation under the material damage – recalling that the authentic chair, already in possession of the family since 2000, has sold nearly € 2.6 million in 2023 – and under the moral damage due to humiliation and the breach of trust suffered by the family. A little later, the lawyer for Éric de Saint-Seine intervened arguing that his client had been deceived by Bill Pallot and Bruno Desnoues, when he had taken all the necessary precautions, that he was a victim, that his reputation was permanently tainted from it-and requests compensation for this damage.
Then it was the turn of Sotheby’s lawyer to speak concerning the other false Jacob chair sold at the Palace of Versailles through the auction house. Sotheby’s, having reimbursed the € 380,000 (plus his commission of € 40,000) in Versailles, now returns against Bill Pallot and asks him to reimburse him the € 380,000 plus, € 20,000 for moral damage.
Me Alexis Fournol, lawyer for the National Company of Experts (CNE), after stressing that Bill Pallot abused his technical skills and reputation, weakened Laurent Kraemer’s defense by contradicting the denials of the antique dealer, according to which he did not have access to the castle to examine the seats and make comparisons. However, in a video on YouTube that takes up the program NEC Ultra Broadcast in 2012, we see him surrounded by his family at the Petit Trianon in Versailles, examining in front of the Castle furniture cameras, including one of the Belvedere chairs. “So it was possible to implement all the diligence that has been mentioned”concluded the lawyer, which confirmed as an aside Laurent Salomé, the director of the Château de Versailles: “The castle being a public establishment, it is possible that the experts can examine the furniture”. The CNE requests to be compensated for moral damage, of 1 euro for each defendant.
Prosecutor’s requisitions
In the afternoon, it was the prosecutor’s turn to bring iron, after recalling the sorrows incurred, in particular under article 231-1 of the consumer code in force at the time of the facts. For the bending of foliot, “Having no convincing elements, the charges are abandoned”. But for the other six lots, the prosecutor believes that they are guilty.
For Bill Pallot, he required, for crimes of deception, money laundering and tax fraud, 3 years’ imprisonment, 2 years suspended, 300,000 € fine, a ban on exercising as an expert for 5 years and the confiscation of his seized real estate. “I did not expect the prosecutor to require a ban on exercising. For me it’s my whole life. And my apartment is always under conservatory entry ”dropped, a little shot, the interested party.
For Laurent Kraemer, he required, concerning the pair of chairs “du Barry” and those of the Belvedere, holding the offense of deception and money laundering, 12 months in prison suspended, € 80,000 fine, the confiscation of seizures in cash. He also asks for the company Kraemer & Cie 700,000 € fine.
For Desnoues, he requested 2 years in prison, including one year suspended, € 100,000 fine, a ban on exercising for 5 years and the confiscation of € 205,000 found in the trunk of his workshop.
Eight months suspended and 150,000 € were required against Eric de Saint-Seine, while 10 months suspended (8 for his wife) were required against the driver-bookman Joaquim DIA Costa, with a joint fine of € 50,000 and the confiscation of the property-his home-in Sarcelles. The prosecutor also asked for the seizure of the disputed furniture put under sequestration in Versailles.
Today it is the turn of the defense lawyers to try to reverse the court of the trial.
