“In a few years, Agde has become a huge cash machine”
In 2001, at the age of 32, Gilles d’Ettore became the mayor of Agde: “Ultimately, simplicity paid off, and above all, honesty and truth“. For 20 years, he ruled over the city, consolidating his power through a clever mix of big projects and favors. Jean-Pierre, a journalist for Midi Libre, recalls: “When we had a problem, we would go see him and then it would be resolved“.
From 2020, a shift occurs: “Behind the local baron remained an intimate wound, the death of his father from which he never recovered“. A close friend advises him to visit Sophia, a psychic from Alsace, well-known in the city of Agde: “There were a lot of people who visited her, including elected officials“.
“The voice asks him to call her dad”
In the spring of 2020, Gilles d’Ettore meets the psychic and ends up consulting her more and more often: “Each session calms him, as if the bond with his father was coming back to life“. One evening on the phone, a deep voice emerges: “She claims to be a guardian angel and asks him to call her dad“. Over time, the phone exchanges with the voice become more intimate, and she starts ordering: “Sophia is a saint, I chose her to protect you. You must help her“.
Gilles d’Ettore uses the city’s money or that of local entrepreneurs to meet Sophia’s demands: “She managed to have her kitchen redone, a building permit for a veranda, the rental of a castle on the outskirts of Agde to celebrate this marriage“. In Gilles d’Ettore’s eyes, it wouldn’t be favoritism: “It’s a sacred mission entrusted by the Beyond“. One by one, the economic actors of Agde find themselves involved and finance the whims of the voice in exchange for favors: “A developer convinced he had cancer, who consulted the psychic, settles the bill through his companies“.
“Her method: she is a ventriloquist”
Geraldine d’Ettore reports her husband’s misadventures and files a complaint: “She explains to the police that she received anonymous calls from a male voice, evoking very personal elements of her private life“. On March 14, 2024, Gilles d’Ettore is placed in custody: “An investigation is opened for corruption and abuse of authority“. The police draw a staggering figure: “3,375 phone conversations between the mayor and the psychic“. Once in custody, the psychic Sophia confesses everything, and for Gilles d’Ettore, it’s a rude awakening: “The man who has ruled Agde for 20 years just found out he was deceived by a ventriloquist“.
On May 31, 2024, he resigns. He and Sophia are placed in temporary detention and then released under surveillance in June 2024. Since then, Gilles d’Ettore has been indicted twice and claims to have been under influence and manipulation. As for Sophia, she denies exercising any manipulation on the mayor: “The benefits received were decisions made freely by Gilles d’Ettore“.
To this day, the trial date has not yet been set.
To go further:
- Affaire Gilles d’Ettore: after his day of questioning, the indictment of the former mayor of Agde extended, Benoit Rouyre, February 2026.
- Arnaque mystique à Agde: au nom du père, du maire et du feint esprit, Sarah Finger, July 2025.
