The mayor of the French city of Agde, the unofficial capital of swinger culture in Europe, is behind bars after a bizarre scandal in which he was accused of showering gifts on a local psychic at taxpayer expense.
The town is located 48 km south of Montpellier along France’s idyllic Mediterranean coastline.
The fortune teller, Sophia Martinez, is accused of embezzlement, while the city’s mayor, a former MP, Gilles d’Ettore, 55, is accused of squandering local citizens’ money on the self-styled medium. The mayor has been in office since 2001.
According to reports, d’Ettore asked Martinez to make contact with his late father, which she was apparently able to do, even mimicking his voice with her extraordinary ventriloquist skills to further the scam.
The excitement lasted four years, with Martinez regularly imitating d’Ettore’s father’s voice, both in person and over the telephone. His father died in 1996.
The idyllic town of Agde on the Mediterranean coast has been rocked by a recent scandal involving its mayor and a psychic
Gilles d’Ettore, the mayor of Agde since 2001, began using Sophia Martinez as a clairvoyant in 2020 and as a result distributed lavish gifts to her, prosecutors allege
The bizarre story was blown by d’Ettore’s estranged wife, Geraldine, who told police in October 2023 that the mayor was “bewitched” by Martinez. He was arrested in March.
D’Ettore was eventually convinced that he was the victim of a scam when he was shown a video of Martinez adjusting her voice.
Prosecutors say that during the interactions, Martinez was able to convince the mayor to hire her relatives for government jobs, pay for vacations to exotic locations such as Polynesia and Thailand, pay for her wedding and renovate her home with the help of companies that contracted with City Hall.
Among the well-wishers was Martinez’s husband, who got a job as the city’s director of technical services. He has been placed on leave since the arrests.
On her Facebook page, Martinez calls herself a “medium, hypnotherapist and healer.” She then describes herself as ‘a specialist in cleansing energy for people and places.’ Her Instagram page promises that a book about her skills will be published.
Both d’Ettore and Martinez, a mother of six, are being held in custody as they await trial for fear of witness tampering.
Earlier this year, Martinez was remanded in custody after being attacked in prison by other inmates who accused her of witchcraft.
“Protect Sophia, protect Sophia, take care of her and her people,” the voice said to d’Ettore, prosecutor Raphael Balland said in an interview with The times in March.
‘Her strategy was to adjust her voice, also towards her family members and close friends. “By using this masculine-sounding, gravelly voice, she managed to trick them into thinking they were talking to a supernatural being from the afterlife,” Balland continued.
Now d’Ettore is facing calls to resign as he remains behind bars over prosecutorial concerns about jury tampering
A local police officer quoted in The Times story said Martinez’s ability to mimic voices was “astounding,” adding that she easily demonstrated her talents during interviews with investigators.
A French report called the voice: “masculine sounding, calm and hoarse.”
The story has become so big in France that even 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 such a man can be manipulated by a woman,” Darrigade said the BBC in a recent interview.
“This is a woman who came into his life and said I can talk to your late father. She discovered a mental weakness in him and exploited it for personal gain. It took him a long time to acknowledge that he had been scammed,” he added.
On the contrary, Martinez’s lawyer, Luc Abratkiewicz, told the BBC that his client has “admitted” her wrongdoing involving the mayor, but that others, including doctors, say she has “mystical powers.”
The attorney said Martinez revealed details to her clients that she had no way of knowing.
Given the city’s association with sex and swinging, one local resident told the BBC that the scandal must also have a carnal element.
‘For me, sex is the core of the scandal. If money is involved, it means sex is also involved. They actually go together,” one resident told the BBC.
Among those leading the criticism of d’Ettore is rival politician Fabienne Varesano, a charge of Marine Le Pen and a member of the right-wing Rassemblement National Party.
‘He can be generous, in love with many different women, that’s his personal life. But with the help of taxpayers’ money, that’s a different story. He made a fool of our city,” Varesano said recently. “He made a fool of our city.”
Varesano led the calls for d’Ettore’s resignation.
A local advisor, Thierry Nadal, described the events as a “real tsunami” in the city.
“To find some oxygen, there are only two solutions: the dismissal of Gilles d’Ettore, that is obvious, and then that of the municipal team,” Nadal said.
According to a French report, there is no legal reason for d’Ettore to resign even though he is behind bars.
‘Theoretically he could be in prison and remain mayor of Agde and chairman of the urban community. No one can force him as long as he is not deprived of his civil rights. And ultimately, only the judge can do that,” said law professor Sebastian Denaja.
D’Ettore was Member of Parliament for the region between 2007 and 2012. He was a member of Jacques Chirac’s Union for a Popular Movement party.