The sleepy town of Tours in the Loire valley was briefly as famous in China as Paris or London.
Mayor Jean Germain had the clever idea of inviting young Chinese couples to remarry in châteaux near the river Loire for €3,000 (£2,240) a time. Rows of Chinese brides in elaborate white dresses and grooms in black suits would be “married” by the Mayor wearing his official tricolour sash.
A poison pen letter to the press brought the business crashing down in 2011. Mr Germain, 67, shot himself with a hunting rifle on the day that he was due to stand trial for alleged corruption this year. The trial was adjourned but resumed on Tuesday. Lise Han, 53, Mr Germain’s former “assistant for Franco-Chinese relations” – and alleged mistress – is accused of fraud, influence peddling and embezzling public funds.
Ms Han denies the accusations. She said as she arrived at the court: “I am very sad. This trial is taking place in the presence of the coffin of Jean Germain.”
Between 2007 and 2011, the “Chinese weddings” of the Loire became a media phenomenon. The Sinophile former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin recalled that on official visits to China, he would be asked as many questions about Tours as about Paris.
The idea was simple – and perfectly legal in itself. Young Chinese couples would pay for “second” weddings in Tours or nearby châteaux. Hire of a wedding dress, limousine, champagne and the presence of the Mayor were included in the package.
Mr Germain, a Socialist Mayor and a senator with a reputation for impeccable honesty, would pose for the wedding photographs. In return, the town received a cut of the fee.
So far so good. Anonymous letters to the press claimed, however, that Ms Han was on the town hall payroll and head of the company, Lotus Bleu, which organised the weddings. This was illegal under French law.
The letters also claimed that she was having a sexual relationship with the Mr Germain. In interviews with the French press, Ms Han, daughter of a former Taiwanese cabinet minister, has admitted the affair but denied any financial wrongdoing.
“It was a very profound story… an impossible love because we were both married and he was a public figure,” she told Libération. The Mayor had denied the affair and any knowledge of the alleged fraud.
In 2013, Ms Han was accused of making excessive profits of around €800,000 from the “marriages” by breaking the rules on the transparent award of public contracts. Mr Germain was accused of turning a blind eye to her activities. He was placed under investigation for “complicity in embezzlement and misdirecting public funds”.
While awaiting trial, Mr Germain lost a mayoral election. In April this year, he was found dead on the day the trial was to begin. He left a note in which he blamed Ms Han and her husband and business partner for his humiliation. “There are people – and I am one of them – for whom injustice and dishonour are unbearable,” he wrote. “You can be sure that I never took a centime, that I never enriched myself and that I worked only for what I believed to be the best interests of the people Tours.”
