TÜV Rheinland: Jean-Claude Mas and four other individuals involved at PIP with confirmed conviction in France

COLOGNE, 05-May-2016 — /EuropaWire/ — The Court of Appeals in Aix-en-Provence today confirmed the conviction of Jean-Claude Mas and four other individuals involved at PIP. It found the accused guilty of, among other things, fraud to the detriment of TÜV Rheinland. Jean Claude Mas was sentenced to four years in prison.

At the beginning of 2011, TÜV Rheinland had lodged a criminal complaint against PIP and had appeared in the criminal proceedings as a civil party. Based on the hearing in April/May 2013, the judges in Marseille on 10 December 2013 had ruled in the 1st instance that, along with the women with PIP silicone breast implants, the notified body TÜV Rheinland had also been a victim of the systematic fraud by PIP. This has now been confirmed by today’s ruling of the judges in Aix-en-Provence: based on the hearing in November 2015, they dismissed the appeal brought by the accused against the judgment of 1st instance and confirmed the prison sentences handed down against them.

Hartmut Müller-Gerbes, group spokesman of TÜV Rheinland, said: “We are very satisfied with this ruling. The Court finds that PIP systematically deceived TÜV Rheinland. Along with the women with PIP silicone gel breast implants, the notified body TÜV Rheinland is also a victim of fraud on the part of PIP. That is what we have been saying for years and that is confirmed by the Court of Appeals in Aix-en-Provence in its judgment today.”

Background: PIP deliberately manufactured silicone breast implants using – at least at times – a non-declared silicone filling. PIP deceived TÜV Rheinland and always claimed that it only used the silicone that it declared to TÜV Rheinland as raw material. PIP provided the auditors and reviewers of TÜV Rheinland with an extensive documentation (e.g. the design dossier, batch records, manufacturing instructions) regarding the alleged used of the declared silicone. PIP systematically concealed any indications regarding the use of different raw materials.

By means of a large-scale and complex scheme of fraud, PIP deceived all the parties involved – first and foremost patients, but also the health authorities and TÜV Rheinland. When PIP’s fraud became known and the end of March 2010, TÜV Rheinland suspended its certificates for PIP.

TÜV Rheinland shares the interest of women with PIP implants in a full investigation of PIP’s criminal actions. Consequently, TÜV Rheinland has also filed a criminal complaint against PIP and its former managers.

Contact for media inquiries: Hartmut Müller-Gerbes
+49 221 806-2657
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