Beaubois affair

Nicolas Beaubois testifying during the Lozé inquiry, CXLII (1946)

The Beaubois affair was a political scandal involving the Customs Service's handling of Gagian-speaking refugees during the Second Great War. Nicolas Beaubois, a Customs Service commander who was in charge of processing all refugees coming from Frigo and Galia to The Furbish Islands, offered to Los Angeles and Naossia to process all the Gagians coming from Yawatha in exchange for a payment to the Customs Service. All high-skilled workers, scientists, and people with college degrees, were split evenly between Alaoyi, Gagium, Los Angeles, Naossia, and The Furbish Islands. A report written by Superintendent Élie Lortie following the war revealed that Beaubois instructed Customs Service officers to lie about peoples' records to the former four countries while all people deemed "useful", which included all high-skilled workers, athletes, and people who scored above 120 on an IQ test, were sent to The Furbish Islands. Beaubois also requested much more money than the Customs Service used, the rest of it being sent to his home city of Calvisson, Seine, where all refugees were resettled.

The scandal became the greatest scandal modern Furbish history according to many historians and damaged relations between The Furbish Islands and members of the Second Coalition. However, an inquiry determined Beaubois acted alone with none of the government or Customs Service leadership knowing of his true actions. The National Assembly formed the Genet committee which recommended legislative changes to how the civil service functioned to prevent similar things from happening again, which were passed with the Civil Service Reform Act of CXLII. Beaubois was dismissed from the Customs Service amid the investigation, along with Superintendent Paskal Veil who carried out much of Beaubois' instructions, and other officers were suspended but reinstated following the inquiry. All officers were acquitted of all criminal charges in several widely publicized and controversial trials.

Background

Official portrait of Nicolas Beaubois after his promotion to commander, CXXXV (1939)

The Second Great War created the largest refugee crisis in the world until that point, which was made worse by several ethnic cleansing campaigns committed by Dilania and Yawatha beginning in the late CXXXs (early 1940s). An estimated 1.5-2 million Gagians were killed during the Gagian Holocaust in Yawatha, with half a million more fleeing to neighboring Los Angeles and Naossia.

Many Furbish officials feared a large number of refugees would cause overcrowding at Furbish ports of entry. To prevent this, and to help alleviate the refugee crisis in other countries, Customs Service officers were sent to Furbish military bases all over the world to process refugees there and clear them for entry to The Furbish Islands. The majority of the officers sent were conscripts who refused to join the military and were assigned another job, rather than career Customs Service officers, who did not wish to be sent abroad. The Customs Service was under orders from the government to limit the number of refugees entering The Furbish Islands as to not overwhelm authorities, and to prioritize the entry of high-skilled workers. Commander Nicolas Beaubois, who was promoted in CXXXV (1939), was sent to Playadiestat Navy Base in Playadiestat, Los Angeles, and was placed in charge of officers processing refugees from the continents of Frigo and Galia. Beaubois was chosen as he was ambitious, and he hated his administrative role.

Beaubois grew up in Calvisson, Seine, a once large and important industrial city that has not recovered since its destruction during the Nouvelle-Bourgogne Penninsula War. Like many residents, Beaubois wanted the city restored to its former glory. The government of Seine previously tried to revitalize the city's economy several times, including making it an autonomous department in LXXXVIII (1892), giving the city more land and special privileges. Despite this, the city never recovered even by the CXXXs (late 1930s-1940s).

Processing of refugees

After first receiving reports of large-scale discrimination against Gagian-speakers and a possibility of a large refugee crisis, Beaubois was quick to make an offer to the governments of Los Angeles and Naossia in late-CXXXVI (mid-1940): in exchange for ƒ10 or ₭19.66 per refugee (ƒ219.41 or ₭429.28 in 2023), the Customs Service will process all Gagians. This money was to be used for administrative costs of processing refugees and to help resettle them. All refugees were split in five groups, 20% were resettled in Alaoyi, 35% in Gagium, 5% in Los Angeles, 5% in Naossia, and 35% in The Furbish Islands, roughly proportional to their populations. When the government of Naossia surrendered in CXLI (late-1944), 1% of the last group of refugees were resettled in Alaoyi, 1.75% in Gagium, 0.5% in Los Angeles, and 1.75% in The Furbish Islands. An even number of high-skilled workers were to be in each group. "High-skilled workers" also included those who had college degrees or were in the process of getting them. Families and friends would not be separated. The overworked immigration authorities of all countries accepted the offer.

While making the offer, Beaubois also began to secretly issue different orders among his subordinates at the Customs Service. All high skilled workers would be sent to The Furbish Islands. Those sent there included any person who scored above 120 on an IQ test which officers were supposed to administer, and athletes. Several officers were assigned to make false records to make it look like high skilled workers were split evenly, which they typically did by switching the names of people in two records while leaving the rest of the information unchanged. The fake records, which did not include IQ scores, were sent to other countries, while the real records were sent to The Furbish Islands.

Official portrait of Paskal Veil, CXXXII (1935)

In charge of processing Gagian-speaking refugees was Superintendent Paskal Veil, who spoke no Gagian. Several small teams in Los Angeles and Naossian bases were put under his command, all teams being made up of entirely conscripts and led by a single sergeant. These teams were instructed to obtain information about all Gagian-speakers, which included their education, occupation, and any other skills they might have, and have them take IQ tests. Records of all of this were then sent to Veil's team in Playadiestat, then Veil's team informed them which refugees would be resettled in what country and sent the false records to every country.

The first Gagian refugees arrived at Los Angeles in Messidor (July), where authorities redirected them to a Customs Service post in San Andreas. Within a week, they were already sent on ships to their destination country. The Customs Service continued Beaubois' plan until Thermidor CXLI (July 1945), when it became clear Los Angeles was about to be invaded. All Customs Service officers evacuated from the island by late Thermidor (August) to Fluvannia, where they were assigned other jobs or were sent back to The Furbish Islands. Before his departure, Beaubois had all records on Gagian-speaking refugees burned. Records of refugees sent to The Furbish Islands were sent along with the refugees, but the real records of refugees sent to other countries were lost.

La Nouvelle-Calvisson

Aerial view of Laboratoires Calvisson Complex 1 as construction was nearing completion, early-CXXXVIII (early-1941). Additional parts of the laboratory were built in the cleared space in the background.

Aerial view of Laboratoires Calvisson Complex 5, CXL (1944)

In CXXXVI (1940) Beaubois wrote an offer directly to the Calvisson Autonomous Department government to build a new area on uninhabited land in the department, known as La Nouvelle-Calvisson, or New Calvisson. This area would have housing for all refugees, several laboratories for research to be carried out in, which were called the Laboratoires Calvisson, as well as stores, schools, universities, sports arenas, and other buildings and infrastructure found in cities, and transportation connections to Calvisson and other parts of the country. The offer was accepted unanimously by the Calvisson Autonomous Department government.

Construction of La Nouvelle-Calvisson began in late-CXXXVI (mid-1940) shortly after the offer was accepted. It was partly financed by the payments from Los Angeles and Naossia which Beaubois covertly sent, and partly by the Furbish Armed Forces. All four branches of the military contributed as they were told the true number of refugees entering. Laboratoires Calvisson would do both civilian and military research, housed in separate complexes which were operated by the Furbish Armed Forces and Calvisson Autonomous Department respectively. By early-CXXXVIII (early-1941), basic infrastructure, including parts of the laboratory, was completed, and the first refugees moved to Calvisson from the temporary housing near Hennezel. Research began immediately in Complex 1, which had many teams working on different projects, but all worked for the military as civilian laboratories were a secondary priority.

New buildings were added on to La Nouvelle-Calvisson as the war continued. By CXLII (1946) housing for over 200,000 people was completed and the Université de la Nouvelle-Calvisson was established. La-Nouvelle Calvisson also had several teams playing fullball, then a relatively unknown sport in The Furbish Islands, but it spread to the rest of the country from there. After the war ended, some of the laboratories were converted to civilian projects. Complex 1 and 3 remained operated by the Army; Complex 5 and 6 by the Navy; Complex 10 by the Air Force, and Complex 13 jointly by all branches. The remaining became civilian operated: Complex 2 became part of the Université de la Nouvelle-Calvisson; Complex 11 and 12 were operated by the Ministry of Infrastructure (later the Ministry of Energy), the latter doing nuclear power and radiation research; and Complex 4, 7, 8, and 9 became operated directly by the Calvisson Autonomous Department government.

Investigations and discovery

Customs Service complaints

Superintendent Élie Lortie was first selected by Beaubois to process Gagian-speaking refugees. Upon being told the order, Lortie objected, saying "Commander Beaubois, please tell me you are joking.". Beaubois laughed, said he was, and then informed Lortie that he would be transferred to Zarare where his "skills would be put to better use". This response confused Lortie, who wrote in his CXLII (1946) report that "Commander Beaubois wanted to both save face and get me out of his way.". Paskal Veil, another superintendent, was assigned to the task. Superintendent Boudewijn Eekmate, who Lortie replaced, was also confused by his sudden transfer from Zarare to Los Angeles. Lortie was initially assigned to Los Angeles as he was better at administrative work, while Eekmate was better at leading a team from Zarare. Both men did not speak to each other about their transfers, however. Within a few months they were both transferred to The Furbish Islands after complaining about their new positions.

Several officers in the Customs Service were also likely opposed to Beaubois' plan. Records showed that twelve more officers of several ranks were transferred to different places within the next few days, of the around 80 stationed in Playadiestat. They all had reasons listed, but Lortie said they were simply made up to cover up the true reason, that they were opposed to Beaubois' plan, with the exception of one conscript who specifically asked to be transferred (Lortie believed it was because he had a crush on another conscript officer who was transferred). None had the chance to talk to each other, but according to Lortie's CXLII (1946) report they were all confused, and some were suspicious of whether he was actually joking.

Beaubois' orders became an open secret among all the conscript officers who remained at Playadiestat, despite his orders to the officers to not talk about what they were doing, though none dared to bring the subject up with career officers or their superiors. Lortie's report stated that they knew what they were supposed to do with Gagian-speakers and how arbitrary the criteria were, to the point that it became a running joke among officers that they had the power to send refugees to whatever country they wanted. The report contained one particular conversation, where an officer said, "One record I got had a man with an IQ of 119 but he went to art school, does that count as educated?", to which another responded, "Of course take him in! If Calvisson does not have the leading abstract artists our boss will personally draw and quarter you!". The report then noted the number of artists per capita within La Nouvelle-Calvisson was greater than anywhere else in The Furbish Islands.

Lortie's report

Official portrait of Élie Lortie, CXLIII (1947)

While working in Zarare, Lortie read newspapers mentioning the new developments in Calvisson. He immediately became suspicious, realizing there was no way the demographic information about the city would be true unless Beaubois was serious about his plan which he described to Lortie. Lortie wrote several letters to Customs Service leadership while in Zarare, but as Beaubois was his superior these complaints had to pass through him. After getting no response, Lortie wrote several follow up letters, which all got no responses. Beaubois alleged he did pass on all letters from Lortie, and they were all lost on their way to The Furbish Islands, but it is widely believed Beaubois disposed of them.

Lortie was transferred to The Furbish Islands in CXXXVIII (1942) and learned the Customs Service did not receive any letters from him. Furious, Lortie spent the next four years travelling to Calvisson to interview people there and compile a report on Beaubois' actions. He tracked down several Customs Service officers he believed may have been involved and interviewed them. A few directly admitted to their actions on the condition of anonymity. The 120-page report was finished on 11 Germinal CXLII (1 April 1946) and Lortie sent copies to Customs Service leadership, several ministers, and to Prime Minister Lukas Thorn's office.

Immediate reactions

Beaubois was immediately dismissed from the Customs Service on the day the report was published. The origin of the order was not known, but later declassified documents revealed they came from Thorn. Veil was dismissed several days later as an internal investigation began, and some other higher-ranking officers, two inspectors, twelve sergeants, were temporarily suspended with full pay, all of whom would later be reinstated. All other officers involved were conscripts who were no longer in the Customs Service. Thorn, Deputy Prime Minister of Justice Patrick McDonaugh, and Customs Service director Elijah Black all stated to the press that they were shocked by the events, and promised they will be thoroughly investigated. McDonaugh said on the day of Beaubois' dismissal that an inquiry will be launched into the events.

Beaubois and Veil protested their dismissals, claiming to the press that they were not given a chance to defend themselves. No other officials made comments to the press on the matter. On the same day as Beaubois' dismissal, the federal government announced a criminal case was opened against him, charging him with two counts of corruption and four counts of fraud for his handling of payments from Los Angeles and Naossia and for lying to their governments, and a third count of corruption for resettling all refugees to his hometown of Calvisson. A few days later charges were announced against other Customs Service officers. Veil was charged with two counts of assisting an act of corruption and two counts of assisting an act of fraud. The fourteen other suspended officers were also charged with knowingly assisting an act fraud, while charges were not pressed against conscript officers. Loïc Hennequin, a Calvisson native, and owner of the law firm Hennequin et Partenaires, offered his services to Beaubois and other Customs Service officers free of charge.

Aftermath

Lozé inquiry

Main article: Lozé inquiry

Official portrait of Noé Lozé, CXXVIII (1932)

Federal prosecutor Noé Lozé led the investigation, while Beaubois, Veil, and other suspended members of the Customs service were represented by Hennequin and his firm. Retired judges Aron Ede, Nanko Klein Jans, and Arnold Labey presided over the hearing, the latter being the chairman. The Fort Hardy drill hall was chosen to hold the inquiry due to its size as a large number of people were expected to attend.

The inquiry lasted from 13 Germinal CXLII (3 April 1946) to 5 Floréal (25 April). Hearings took place 12 days, with investigations taking place during the rest of the time. 38 witnesses were interviewed, including all sixteen suspended members of the Customs Service, three conscript officers including one who refused to follow Beaubois' plan, several refugees from La Nouvelle-Calvisson, high-ranking officials from the Customs Service including Lortie and Black, officials from the federal government and Furbish Armed Forces who approved the construction of La Nouvelle-Calvisson, three ministers of immigration, and some officials from the Calvisson Autonomous Department government. Notably, no representative of any foreign government was interviewed. The prosecutors of all cases against the Customs Service officers were present in all meetings, as were reporters and a large amount of the general public. The questioning from both Lozé and the judges was very thorough. Lozé's temper during the inquiry was especially adversarial.

The final report was published on 14 Floréal (4 May). It strongly condemned Beaubois and Veil for their actions and affirmed they should have been dismissed. The report also noted all other people involved, including the fourteen suspended Customs Service officers and conscript officers, and officials involved in the construction of La Nouvelle-Calvisson, were following rules and standard procedures and were unaware of Beaubois' deal, and any suspended Customs Service officers should be reinstated. Legislative changes were recommended by the report though it did not suggest specific changes. The National Assembly created the Genet committee to study them.

Trials

Main articles: The United Provinces and Territories v. Beaubois, The United Provinces and Territories v. Veil, and CXLII Customs Service Trials

Yvon Côté led the prosecution of Beaubois' trial and federal judge Médard Trintignant presided over it. Beaubois did not want a jury trial. After appearing in prison on 16 Floréal CXLII (6 May 1946), Beaubois was released on bail. The trial started on 23 Floréal (13 May) and lasted to 5 Prairial (25 May) and took place in the La Citadelle de Angoulême's drill hall, as a large number of people were expected to be present. Seven witnesses appeared, which did not include Lortie or any other person from the Customs Service. Côté showed plenty of evidence during the trial. Hennequin argued that while Beaubois' actions may have been considered corrupt and fraudulent, Beaubois did not break any law as he did not lie to the Furbish government, only foreign governments, and no Furbish law made this illegal. On the final corruption count, Hennequin argued there were many reasons for why Calvisson could have been chosen to resettle refugees, including the large amount of empty space for building housing, transportation connections, and the province already speaking Gagian.

In the final ruling, Trintignant ruled in favor of Beaubois, condemning his actions regarding payments but saying there was no law making them illegal, and Beaubois may have had other reasons for resettling refugees in Calvisson other than it being his hometown. The ruling also stated that should any of the countries request the extradition of Beaubois or other Customs Service officers, Beaubois could be sent to a Furbish prison, as the Furbish constitution does not allow Furbish citizens to be extradited but they can be imprisoned in The Furbish Islands if an equivalent law exists in the country, however no country made such requests. Beaubois' trial was the most widely publicized trial up to this point, with an estimated 20 million viewing the announcement of the ruling on television and radio.

Veil's trial lasted from 7 Prairial (27 May) to 14 Prairial (3 June), taking place at a large hotel ballroom in his hometown of Fort Hillen, Zuid Wageborg. A young Lukas Ganser led the prosecution and the trial was presided over by Sieb Pas. As with Beaubois, Veil's lawyers argued that Veil did not violate Furbish law since he only lied to foreign governments. Ganser ruled in favor of Veil, stating that as with Beaubois, Veil did not break Furbish law, but if the governments of Alaoyi or Gagium request Veil's extradition he can face criminal penalties, though no government did. Veil's trial and the other fourteen did not receive as much attention, nor did they have as many witnesses as Beaubois did. All ended with an acquittal after lawyers for the Customs Service agents argued they did not violate any Furbish Law, and all fourteen were reinstated after the verdicts. The last trial ended on 10 Messidor (20 June).

Other Furbish and foreign reactions

After the end of the Lozé inquiry, McDonaugh and Thorn formally apologized on behalf of the Furbish government for the actions of the Customs Service. Thorn said his government will fully support any anti-corruption measures passed by the National Assembly.

Genet committee and legislative changes

Main articles: Genet committee, Civil Service Reform Act of CXLII, and Ombudsman Act

Official portrait of Thibaut Genet, CXL (1943)

To implement legislative changes recommended by the Lozé inquiry, the National Assembly formed the eleven member Genet committee, named after its chairman, Thibaut Genet. They met for two months, from 13 Floréal (3 May) to 9 Messidor (29 June), and held hearings from various experts, including Lortie, and the three judges who presided over the Lozé inquiry, Ede, Klein Jans, and Labey, and Lozé himself. The committee drafted two laws: the Bureaucratic Excellence and Accountability through Unified Bureaucratic Operational Integrity Standards (BEAUBOIS) Act, and the Ombudsman Act. Both were proposed to the National Assembly immediately. The former officially became known as the Civil Service Reform Act of CXLII after its passage on 7 Fructidor CXLII (26 July 1946).

The BEAUBOIS Act made key changes to functions of the civil service in order to increase transparency, accountability, and prevent civil servants from acting in the way Beaubois did. The law has three main parts. The first part places criminal penalties on civil servants for engaging in fraud or any corrupt behavior while doing official business for the Furbish government. The second part adds more rules and procedures to increase transparency within the executive branch. One of these rules requires civil servants to report any additional funding their agency received outside its official budget to their respective agency's leadership, which must report it to the agency's parent ministry. To help enforce the new requirements, the law also established the office of the inspector general in every ministry, and the office of the chief inspector general. Inspectors general are tasked with overseeing and auditing all agencies within their ministry to prevent any abuse of power, corruption, and mismanagement. They also investigate any complaints about their ministry. The inspectors general are senior civil servants appointed by ministers and lead a small office.

The Ombudsman act, passed on 13 Fructidor CXLII (1 August 1946), established the Office of the Ombudsman under the National Assembly. The Ombudsman is appointed by the National Assembly and is tasked with investigating any citizen's complaints against the executive branch.

Legacy

The Beaubois affair is considered the greatest scandal in modern Furbish history and resulted in sweeping changes to the executive branch in the form of the Civil Service Reform Act of CXLII. Some disagree with this assessment, however. Historian Arnold Brown says, "It is hard to believe the actions of Commander Nicolas Beaubois are in any way comparable to high-ranking bureaucrats or Gendarmery officers in the Second Republic, where such corruption was commonplace. Compared to then, the long-term effects of the Beaubois affair were minimal.". On the other hand, Amanda Mesny argues "The Beaubois Affair became such a scandal because the people thought they were long past the days of the Second Republic where civil servants frequently abused their power.".

Following their trials, Customs Service sergeants and inspectors who were suspended were reinstated. Beaubois moved back to Calvisson, where he became a manager at Laboratoires Calvisson. Veil became a middle manager and worked for several companies. Both men stayed out of public life after their trials. While Beaubois is often regarded as a villain for his actions, residents of Calvisson hold a different view of him, as he helped restore the declining city.

Lortie continued serving in the Customs Service until the passage of the BEAUBOIS Act. Because of his report exposing Beaubois' actions, Lortie was offered a position of Inspector General for the Ministry of Justice in CXLIII (late-1946). He held that post for 7 years until becoming Chief Inspector General, the highest inspector general post in the civil service. Lortie trained future inspectors general even after his retirement in CLIX (1963).

Calvisson today

Aerial view of Laboratoires Calvisson Complex 15 and its adjacent tram stop, taken in CCIII (late-2006). Complex 14 can be seen in the background in the far right, while parts of La Nouvelle-Calvisson can be seen in the far left.

Calvisson today is a very prosperous city. The Calvisson Autonomous Department currently has a population of 523,401 according to the 2020 census, of which around 60% are Nouvelle-Calvissoniens, or people descended from refugees who first settled in the city. Two professional fullball teams exist in Calvisson which play in the Furbish Fullball Premier League, the top league in the Furbish pyramid, as well as a number of smaller teams. Université de la Nouvelle-Calvisson is one of the top universities in The Furbish Islands. It has around 60,000 students, including about 8,000 doctoral students. It predominately teaches in Gagian but more Fluvan-speaking programs continue to be added. An estimated 5% of the autonomous department's population have a doctorate, higher than any other city or county in The Furbish Islands. Research and high-tech manufacturing are the city's primary industries.

Laboratoires Calvisson remains the autonomous department's largest employer, employing around 80,000 people across its 16 its complexes, including the two operated by the university. Three additional complexes were built following the war, Complex 14 by the Army, Complex 15 by the Université de la Nouvelle-Calvisson, and Complex 16 by the Calvisson Autonomous Department government. A wide range of research in all fields is caried out in the laboratories, with both civilian and military applications.