Vengeful French judge ‘faked wedding between her and man impersonating her ex to stop him marrying new lover’
A 'VENGEFUL' French judge has been accused of staging a fake wedding to stop her ex marrying his new love.
Souad Meslem, 58, recruited someone to impersonate her former partner for the bogus island ceremony, say prosecutors.
She has now been charged with fraud for allegedly using official documents to arrange the sham marriage on Réunion in the Indian Ocean
The Paris-based judge’s romantic problems started when she discovered her partner of 20 years was having an affair with a lawyer.
The woman involved was a sister of a cabinet minister in François Hollande’s government, for whom the judge had been an adviser.
It's reported the judge's former partner – a lawyer and father of their son – stayed behind with his new girlfriend when she started a job as a top prosecutor on Réunion in 2017.
Meslem was then left feeling extremely hurt and betrayed by her long-term partner, Le Parisien reported.
She then recruited an accomplice to impersonate him at a wedding ceremony attended by Gilbert Annette, mayor of the island's capital Saint Denis, according to the charges.
“Souad Meslem managed to produce identity documents and the birth certificate of her partner,” said Le Journal de L’Ile de la Réunion.
“Because of the profession of the two future spouses, no one in the town hall staff could have imagined that the husband was an impostor,” it added.
“No one noticed either that the groom did not look exactly like the photo on his identity papers.”
The former partner only discovered "he" was now married after she returned to work in Paris and announced she wanted to be known by her new married name.
Local media reported her ex "was stunned" when he found out he was now her husband.
Meslem was arrested in December with her daughter from a previous marriage, who was a witness at the wedding.
The judge was charged with the fraudulent use of official papers by someone in public office, which can carry a sentence of up to 15 years.
The "groom" from the sham ceremony was also seized and the judge has been bailed pending future trial.
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