Chef Jean Claude Brugel, of Thermes Marins’ Vistamar restaurant, with Christine Zoliec, Managing Director and Brugel’s predecessor, Jacky Oberti.
Thermes Marins Monte-Carlo have won the prestigious Best Hotel Spa in Europe Award. The Prix Villégiature Awards are in their 13th year, and were presented in Paris by a jury of 23 journalists working in the tourism and hospitality sector.
Having been thoroughly renovated and reopened two years ago, Thermes Marins occupies more than 7,000 square metres and continues to deliver the promise of Francois Blanc, the founder of SBM, to deliver “the dream”.
Christine Zoliec, Managing Director of the spa and its 100 staff, said: “It is an honour to receive such an award, which confirms the efforts and expertise of our multidisciplinary team, mobilised every day to provide an exceptional service to our customers.”
Ambassador honoured for “judicial career marked by excellence”
Mr Philippe Etienne, Ambassador of France in Germany, with Her Excellency Isabelle Berro-Amadei, Ambassador of Monaco to Berlin. Photo: DC
Mr Philippe Etienne, Ambassador of France in Germany, has presented the insignia of Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honour to Her Excellency Isabelle Berro-Amadei, Ambassador of Monaco to Berlin.
In his speech, HE Mr Etienne traced the main stages in the career of Monaco’s Ambassador, citing notably her “judicial career marked by excellence” and “universally recognised legal qualities”. He recalled that HE Ms Berro-Amadei was the first Monegasque magistrate to exercise the functions of judge, then President of Section at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, from 2006 to 2015.
The Ambassador also emphasised the links between HE Ms Berro-Amadei and France, in particular her studies at the University of Nice and at the National School of Magistrates. He highlighted her major involvement as judge-rapporteur for French business in Strasbourg and her close relationship with French institutions, such as the Constitutional Council and the State Council.
Finally, HE Mr Etienne thanked HE Ms Berro-Amadei for her relentless defence of the French language.
Palais de Justice Monaco Photo: Niels Mickers
A Nice man has been sentenced to four months in prison for fraud in Monaco.
The young man entered the Monaco courthouse freely Wednesday but emerged in handcuffs and sentenced to four months in prison for forgery and misappropriation of 12 cheques, in addition to reimbursing the plaintiff for €9,000.
The accused stood before the court with little remorse. He created a company called “Fullcharg”, specialised in data plans recharging for phones, but forged cheques while working for another company to the tune of €53,586.
The accused had an accounting job with BFM experts in Monaco and the first sign of trouble was in 2014 when his clients were pulled up for non-payment of VAT. Unperturbed, he claimed that the secretary had made an accounting error. In fact, rather than giving the cheques made out by his clients to cover their VAT payments to the Monaco tax authorities, he was paying them directly into his own company.
“It was easy to use other people’s money,” stated President Florestan Bellinoza. “Who would think of stealing from your employer’s clients? These people already trust you with their VAT returns.”
The accused tried to explain his actions. “I knew it was wrong but it was a quick way to get money.”
The judge cut him off, “Your clients handed you a cheque and you kept the money. You worked for less than a year at that business and you never responded to the arrest warrant.”
According to Me Roger Tudela, lawyer for the civil parties, “Everything went wrong when the manager started to work alone. The company’s president met a client who complained of lost cheques. From October, other clients complained that their VAT payments had not been received by the tax authorities, and the company president quickly suspected that the accountant was behind the €33,565 loss. The lawyer is also claiming €10,000 in damages
The prosecutor Alexia Brianti wonders if this is not the only company scammed.
As far as the accused was concerned, it was easy money… €53,000 over four months, but it quickly got out of hand. He was already known to the police for embezzlement, when he misappropriated 8 cheques to the amount of €20,000 with another company.
He’s not a big time criminal. He’s a petty thief. He’s expecting a child. Give him a reasonable sentence, requested his lawyer. The judge decided otherwise. (Source: Nice-Matin).
Photo: Sportel
Sportel, the annual international convention for the Sports Marketing & Media Industry, draws to a close in Monaco on Thursday October 27.
The 3-day trade show, held this year in the Grimaldi Forum, so allowing double the amount of exhibition space, brought together broadcasters, sponsors and athletes to discover the industry’s latest trends, to exchange ideas and to sign contracts.
One of the themes this year was that of sport and social media, with conferences dedicated to Twitter and Facebook. As Sportel’s General Manager, Amparo Di Fede, explained, “These two networks collect a lot of content about sport because this is what fans tend to discuss the most when they use social networks.”
Other themes included how to generate revenue using the new technologies of Virtual and Augmented Reality, and the first-ever SPORTEL Law conference, which examined the legal issues related to sports broadcasting and copyright.
HSH Prince Albert II, Honorary President of Sportel commented that, “With increasing amounts of available footage, the question of rights in sport also arises. This is an area that all professionals are greatly interested in, given the significant economic considerations involved. Administering image rights, managing sponsorship contracts and forecasting risks are all issues that require a complex and critically important arsenal of legal tools to regulate the sports-business market.”
Among the personalities making up the jury were footballer Djibril Cissé, Olympic boxing champion Estelle Mossely and Paralympique champion Richard Whitehead, with Donovan Baily, former Canadian Olympic 100 metre champion, as this year’s jury president.
The Sportel Autobiography Prize went to International rugby legend Dan Carter for “Dan Carter, The Autobiography Of An All Blacks Legend”. Carter said that the message he wished to convey through his book was that “ I lived a very simple life from a small country town and through hard work and sacrifice I was able to live my dream. So hopefully it can inspire other people to follow their dreams. I also wanted to show how difficult things can be mentally from having setbacks like injuries and dips in form.”
Other awards on Wednesday night included the Peace and Sport Documentary Prize, won by Speed Sisters, and the Sport Book Prize from the Monaco Olympic Committee which was presented to Bob Martin for “1/1000th: The Sports Photography of Bob Martin”.
The Quai des Etats-Unis, which runs for some 370m along the north of the Port Hercules, between the Digue Nord (to the east), and the Darse Nord (to the west), is under reconstruction. The quay’s concrete slab was constructed between 1968 and 1975 but the massive supporting pillars are considerably older, dating from the early 1900s.
The poor condition of the quay’s slab means that it is currently being shored up with various supporting pillars and beams, but only as a short-term measure. As it cannot be repaired, the only solution is to demolish it completely and to rebuild it, according to the original plan, using prefabricated caissons.
The 30 reinforced concrete caissons, measuring 12.5m by 12.5m and around 3.55m high, will be constructed in Saint Mandrier and transported to Monaco by sea. The caissons will incorporate a watertight technical compartment that will allow improved supply networks to boats and will also have equipment to collect wastewater from boats and to treat rainwater.
Works will be carried out in three phases, over three years, during the period between the Monaco Yacht Show and the F1 Grand Prix. The first phase, which affects the section of the quay between the chicane of the Grand Prix and the Digue Nord, is underway and will be completed by the end of March 2017.
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