France : enquête pour corruption et perquisitions chez la ministre de la Culture Rachida Dati
Searches were carried out on Thursday at the home of French Culture Minister Rachida Dati, as well as at the town hall of the Paris district she heads, as part of a corruption investigation, according to a source close to the case speaking to AFP.
The minister, who is also a candidate for mayor of Paris, is suspected of having received 299,000 euros in fees from the French industrial group GDF Suez when she was a Member of the European Parliament, without declaring the source to the European Parliament.
The investigation is opened "in particular on charges of active and passive corruption, influence peddling, embezzlement of public funds, receiving and laundering of these offences in connection with the exercise of the mandate of Member of the European Parliament of Ms. Rachida Dati", wrote the financial public prosecutor, Jean-François Bohnert, in a statement.
Thursday's report mentions "search operations targeting various locations, including the town hall of the 7th arrondissement of Paris and the Ministry of Culture, as well as private residences."
These searches are part of an investigation opened on October 14 and entrusted to two investigating judges of the Paris judicial court, according to this statement, confirming press reports.
It all started with a preliminary investigation conducted since April 16 "based, in particular, on a Tracfin (financial intelligence, editor's note) report received by the PNF (National Financial Prosecutor's Office)", explains Jean-François Bohnert.
Olivier Pardo, one of Ms. Dati's lawyers, declined to comment when contacted by AFP. Her other lawyers did not respond.
According to an investigation broadcast in early June on the public television channel France 2, the funds of the French energy giant had passed through a law firm, STC Partners, before being transferred back to Ms. Dati's accounts in 2010 and 2011. According to Complément d'enquête, the origin of these revenues was not declared to the European Parliament as required to avoid conflicts of interest.
The candidate for mayor of Paris had described these accusations as "defamatory" on Europe 1 radio and CNews television, asserting that the documents mentioned in this program had already "been examined by the justice system" as part of the investigations into the Carlos Ghosn case.
Because Ms. Dati is already being sent to the criminal court in another case, for corruption and influence peddling, in which she will have to appear alongside the former all-powerful boss of Renault-Nissan, Carlos Ghosn.
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