The mayor of the French city of Agde, the unofficial capital of swinger culture in Europe, is behind bars following a bizarre scandal in which he was accused of giving gifts to a local clairvoyant, at taxpayers’ expense.
The city is located 30 miles south of Montpellier along France’s idyllic Mediterranean coast.
Fortune teller Sophia Martínez is accused of embezzlement, while the city’s mayor, former deputy Gilles d’Ettore, 55, is accused of wasting local citizens’ money on the self-proclaimed medium. The mayor has held the position since 2001.
d’Ettore reportedly asked Martinez to contact her deceased father, which she was apparently able to do, even imitating his voice with her extraordinary ventriloquist skills to promote the scam.
The scandal lasted four years and Martínez regularly posed as the voice of d’Ettore’s father, both in person and on the phone. His father died in 1996.
The idyllic town of Agde, on the Mediterranean coast, has been rocked by a recent scandal involving the mayor and a clairvoyant.
Gilles d’Ettore, mayor of Agde since 2001, began using Sophia Martínez as a clairvoyant in 2020 and lavished gifts on her as a result, prosecutors allege.
The strange story was reported by d’Ettore’s estranged wife, Geraldine, who told police that the mayor was “bewitched” by Martínez 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 Martínez modifying his voice.
Prosecutors say that during the interactions, Martínez was able to convince the mayor to hire members of his family for government jobs, pay for vacations in exotic locations such as Polynesia and Thailand, pay for his wedding and renovate his house using companies that had contracts with City Hall.
Among the benefactors was Martínez’s husband, who received a job as the town’s technical services director. Since the arrests, he has been placed on leave.
On her Facebook page, Martínez calls herself a “medium, hypnotherapist and healer.” She describes herself as a “specialist in the energetic cleansing of people and places.” Her Instagram page promises that she will soon publish a book about her skills.
Both d’Ettore and Martínez, a mother of six, are being held while awaiting trial due to fears of witness tampering.
Earlier this year, Martinez was placed in protective custody after she was attacked by other inmates in prison who accused her of witchcraft.
“Protect Sofia, protect Sofia, take care of her and her people,” the voice told d’Ettore, prosecutor Raphael Balland said in an interview with The times in March.
‘His strategy was to modify his voice, even with members of his family and close friends. With that hoarse, masculine voice she managed to make them believe that they were talking to a supernatural being from beyond,” Balland continued.
Now, d’Ettore faces calls to resign while he remains behind bars over prosecutor concerns about jury tampering.
A local police officer quoted in the Times article said Martinez’s ability to imitate voices was “amazing” and added that he easily demonstrated his talent during interviews with investigators.
A French report called the voice: “It sounds masculine, calm and hoarse.”
The story has become so important in France that even d’Ettore’s lawyer, Jean Marc Darrigade, has become a celebrity.
‘It’s a crazy story. It’s incredible because in politics there is a man, mayor and former deputy, who is very intelligent. And you find out that a man like that can be manipulated by a woman,” Darrigade said. BBC in a recent interview.
‘This is a woman who came into his life and said, “I can talk to your late father.” She found a mental weakness in him and exploited it for personal gain. It took a long time before she accepted that he had been scammed,” she added.
By contrast, Martinez’s lawyer, Luc Abratkiewicz, told the BBC that his client has “confessed” to her misdeeds involving the mayor, but that others, including doctors, say she has “mystical powers.”
The lawyer said Martínez has revealed details to her clients that she would have no way of knowing.
Given the city’s association with sex and swinging, one local told the BBC the scandal must also have a carnal element.
‘For me, sex is at the center of the scandal. When money is involved, it means that sex is also part of it. They kind of go hand in hand,” one local told the BBC.
Among those leading the criticism against d’Ettore is rival politician Fabienne Varesano, one of Marine Le Pen’s accusers and a member of the right-wing National Assembly Party.
‘He can be generous, be in love with many different women, that is his personal life. But using taxpayer money is a different story. “He has made a mockery of our people,” Varesano recently stated. “He has mocked our city.”
Varesano has been leading calls for d’Ettore to resign.
A local councillor, Thierry Nadal, described the events as causing a “real tsunami” in the city.
“To find some oxygen, there are only two solutions: the resignation of Gilles d’Ettore, that is obvious, and then that of the municipal team,” said Nadal.
According to a French report, there is no legal reason for d’Ettore to resign, even if he is behind bars.
‘In theory, he could be in prison and still be 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 that, ultimately, only the judge can do,” said law professor Sebastián Denaja.
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.
