The mayor of the French town of Agde, the unofficial capital of swinger culture in Europe, is behind bars following a bizarre scandal which saw him accused of lavishing gifts on a local clairvoyant, at the taxpayer’s expense.
The town is located 30 miles south of Montpellier along France‘s idyllic Mediterranean coastline.
The fortune teller, Sophia Martinez, is accused of embezzlement while the town’s mayor, a former MP, Gilles d’Ettore, 55, is accused of squandering local citizen’s money on the self-proclaimed medium. The mayor has been in office since 2001.
According to reports, d’Ettore asked Martinez to make contact with his deceased father which she apparently was able to do, even mimicking his voice with her extraordinary ventriloquist skills in order to further the con.
The rouse lasted for four years with Martinez regularly impersonating d’Ettore’s father’s voice both in person and over the phone. His father died in 1996.
The whistle was blown on the bizarre story by d’Ettore’s estranged wife, Geraldine, who told the police that the mayor was ‘bewitched’ by Martinez in October 2023. He was arrested in March.
D’Ettore was finally convinced that he was the victim of a scam when he was shown a video of Martinez modifying her voice.
Prosecutors say that during the interactions, Martinez was able to convince the mayor to hire her family members for government jobs, pay for holidays to exotic locations such as Polynesia and Thailand, pay for her wedding and to renovate her home using businesses that had contracts with city hall.
Among the benefactors was Martinez’s husband, who received a job as the town’s director of technical services. Since the arrests, he has been put on leave.
On her Facebook page, Martinez calls herself a ‘medium, hypnotherapist and healer.’ She goes on to describe herself as a ‘specialist in the cleansing of energy for people and places.’ Her Instagram page promises a book about her skills is forthcoming.
Both d’Ettore and Martinez, a mother of six, are being held in custody while they await trial due to fears regarding witness tampering.
Earlier this year, Martinez was moved into protective custody after she was attacked in prison by other inmates who were accusing her of witchcraft.
‘Protect Sophia, protect Sophia, take care of her and her people,’ the voice told d’Ettore, prosecutor Raphael Balland said in an interview with The Times in March.
‘Her strategy consisted of modifying her voice, including with members of her family and close friends. By using this male-sounding, hoarse voice, she succeeded in making them think they were talking with a supernatural being from the beyond,’ Balland continued.
A local police officer quoted in The Times story said Martinez’s ability to mimic voices was ‘astonishing’ adding that she readily demonstrated her talents during interviews with investigators.
A French report called the voice: ‘Masculine-sounding, calm and husky.’
The story has become such a big deal in France, even the d’Ettore’s lawyer, Jean Marc Darrigade, has become a celebrity.
‘It’s a crazy story. It’s incredible because you have a man in politics, mayor and former MP who is very intelligent. And you discover that a man like that can be manipulated by a woman,’ Darrigade told the BBC in a recent interview.
‘This is a woman who came into his life and said I can speak to your deceased father. She found a mental weakness in him and exploited it for personal gain. It took a long time before he accepted he had been conned,’ he added.
Contrarily, Martinez’s lawyer, Luc Abratkiewicz, told the BBC that his client has ‘owned up’ to her misdeeds involving the mayor but that others, including doctors, say fact that she has ‘mystical powers.’
The attorney said that Martinez has revealed details to her clients that she would have no way of knowing.
Given the town’s association with sex and swinging, one local told the BBC that the scandal must also have a carnal element.
‘For me, sex is at the heart of the scandal. Where there is money involved, then it means sex is part of it too. They kind of go together,’ a local told the BBC.
Among those leading the criticisms against d’Ettore is rival politician, Fabienne Varesano, one Marine Le Pen’s charges and member of the right wing Rassemblement National Party.
‘He can be generous, in love with lots of different women, that’s his personal life. But using taxpayers’ money, that is a different story. He has made a mockery out of our town,’ Varesano said recently. ‘He has made a mockery out of our town.’
Varesano has been leading calls for d’Ettore to resign.
A local counsellor, Thierry Nadal, described the events as causing a ‘real tsunami’ in the town.
‘To find some oxygen, there are only two solutions: the resignation of Gilles d’Ettore, that’s obvious, then that of the municipal team,’ Nadal said.
According to one French report, there is no legal reason for d’Ettore to resign, even if he’s behind bars.
‘Theoretically, he can be in prison and remain mayor of Agde and president of the urban community. No one can force him, as long as he is not deprived of his civil rights. And only the judge can ultimately do that,’ law professor Sebastian Denaja said.
D’Ettore was previously an MP for the region between 2007 and 2012. He was a member of Jacques Chirac’s Union for a Popular Movement party.