When the State sells a Marseille palace at auction

This text corresponds to part of the transcription of the report above. Click on the video to watch it in full.

It is a real estate jewel against the Mediterranean. More than 1,700 square meters, five levels, the Carlton Palace dominates the cornice in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) for decades. But this symbol of luxury, which today requires many work, is about to change its hand. It was put up for auction by the State, for a starting price 4,743,000 euros. Marseillais are attached to this emblem of local heritage. “”It was one of the two most beautiful holes in the cornice “, says one of them. “Even if I sell my car, it’s not worth it”quips another.

An auction, because this real estate complex is not a good like any other. It is a good that we say badly acquired, seized in owners who participated in one of the largest international tax fraud: the carbon tax scam, a scandal that cost no 1.6 billion euros in the state. Whoever wants to buy the Carlton Palace will have to pay the sum in full in one go. The money will be given directly to the state.

“”It is used to approach the general state budget, that is to say to help the ministries of the interior and justice, which can make seizures and confiscations, but also this can be used to build a hospital, to build a school, it is really the general budget of the state “explain Vanessa Perrée, Managing Director of the Management and Collection Agency for seized and Confiscked Assets (AGRASC).

Each year, many goods are sold, as a yacht seizes Russian oligarchs or this castle in the south of France, who left for 67 million euros, a record. There are also luxury cars, leather goods. In total, in 2024, 255 million euros entered the state funds.