Unpaid bills and phantom patrons: the Fondamentus Angkor concert scam is on trial

It's an unusual trial that will take place on September 8th before the ^11th chamber of the Paris Criminal Court, with a cast of bizarre characters. More than ten years after the start of the case, a conductor and composer, a former banker turned association president, and a former lawyer from the Tours bar are all involved. will appear for, among other things, "forgery and use of forgery", "fraud" and "breach of trust". Thirteen civil parties are demanding accountability from them.

Lawyer for eight of them, at the end of a "long investigation" lasting "more than ten years" comprising two parts, Antoine Vey denounces a "vast fraudulent scheme" with "dramatic consequences for the actors who took part in it, often with a lot of financial and personal investment" , stressing that "none of the victims have been compensated".

The first part of this sprawling dossier concerns the Fondamentus project : Two classical music concerts held on December 5 and 6, 2013, at the historic site of Angkor in Cambodia, for the ^20th anniversary of its classification as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, at the invitation of a director of the international organization and under the auspices of the French Embassy. More than 500 guests, including the King of Cambodia and the then French Minister of Culture (2012-2014), Aurélie Filippetti, attended the event at the Angkor Wat temple. Final budget: 1.1 million euros.

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