The facts: nineteen contracts out of thirty-one, €9.4 M; three bidders at the same address and under the same holding; nine votes without recusal; €310,000 in grants to the family’s association; €900,000 in public aid paid on a site barely opened.
Grey areas: whether competition was real on the twelve single-bid contracts; the association’s accounts for the three unpublished years; how the land price was set.
What to watch: next council meeting, next declaration of interests, next published accounts.
Key facts
- Subject:
- Sarline TP and its holding, Sarline Invest SA (Luxembourg)
- Record:
- 19 contracts out of 31, €9.4 M excl. VAT
- Period:
- 2021 – 2026
- Verdict:
- strong indications of competition on paper only, undeclared conflict of interest
- Confidence:
- high on the links and the amounts, three independent sources: public procurement data, company registers, council minutes; still to establish: the actual absence of competition
Summary
Nineteen contracts out of thirty-one in five years for Sarline TP. Its two usual competitors share the same address, the same accountant and the same Luxembourg holding. The vice-president in charge of works is a relative and has never recused himself. The association chaired by Hélène Sarline, wife of Aurèle Sarline, receives the largest grants in the territory.
Findings
- 1
19 contracts out of 31 · €9.4 M
Thirty-one works contracts awarded by the communauté de communes (the inter-municipal authority) from 2021 to 2026, above €40,000. Nineteen to Sarline TP, €9.4 M excl. VAT. Twelve procedures out of thirty-one, all winners included, or 39%, received a single bid, against 22% in France in 2024. Five orders at €38,000 or €39,000 in 2023, just under the threshold.
Sources: public procurement data · BOAMP (official tenders bulletin) · buyer profile · company register
- 2
1 address for the 3 bidders
On fourteen of the nineteen contracts won by Sarline TP, two competitors submit a bid every time, always higher. Same address, same accountant as Sarline TP. All three companies are 100% owned by Sarline Invest SA, Luxembourg, whose beneficial owner is Aurèle Sarline, founder of Sarline TP.
Sources: national company register · beneficial ownership registers, France and Luxembourg · BODACC (official companies gazette)
- 3
Established family ties
Didier Marchenoir, vice-president in charge of works, is Aurèle Sarline's brother-in-law. Elected in March 2020, he reports and votes nine of the nineteen awards to Sarline TP; no recusal in the register, no mention in his declaration of interests. Hélène Sarline chairs the most subsidised sports association in the territory: €310,000 from 2021 to 2025, two agreements published out of five.
Sources: council deliberations and minutes · declarations of interests to the HATVP (public ethics authority) · grant agreements
- 4
60% invoiced · site barely opened
Intercommunal gymnasium, €2.9 M excl. VAT, awarded to Sarline TP; €900,000 in State and Region aid paid in December 2025 on a 60% progress statement. Images from April 2026: ground levelled, no slab, no frame. The land had been bought for €410,000 in June 2022 from a family property company (SCI), twice the median for the area.
Sources, whole report: public procurement data, BOAMP, company and beneficial ownership registers, council minutes, HATVP, grant agreements, DVF (land sales records) and cadastre, IGN, Sentinel-2 and Street View imagery.
Sources
- Public procurementessential data, BOAMP, buyer profileB2
- Companies and beneficial ownersnational company register, BODACC, French and Luxembourg registers, access on legitimate interestA2
- Community councildeliberations, minutes, recusal registerA1
- Declarations and grantsHATVP, published agreementsA2
- Land and siteDVF, cadastre, IGN, Sentinel-2, Street ViewB2
Reading the grades: A to F, source reliability; 1 to 6, fact credibility.
What you receive
A summary report with maps, dates and findings; the sources in annex; a structured file for your own tools.
Investigation brief from $200.
The names of the people, companies and territory have been changed.