In Paris, financial police on Tuesday carried out a search at the Elysee Palace as part of an ongoing investigation into possible corruption allegations related to public tenders.
Le Figaro newspaper reported, based on reliable sources, that the inspection included the headquarters of the French Presidency, and the investigation focuses on contracts awarded by the Presidency to a company called “Shortcut,” which specializes in organizing national celebrations.
Sources indicate that the investigation focuses on the contracts concluded between the company and the Presidency of the Republic in the period from 2002 to 2024, with the aim of verifying the presence of violations or suspicions of corruption related to the repeated award of contracts to the same company over the years.
Initial estimates indicate that the cost of each event contracted with the company is approximately 2 million euros.
So far, there has been no official statement from the Elysee Palace regarding the inspection process or the details of the investigation.
Investigations into the presidential institution are not new in French politics, as the past years have witnessed the opening of cases against former presidents or those close to them.
Former President Jacques Chirac was convicted in 2011 on charges of fake jobs dating back to his term as mayor of Paris, a first of its kind for a former French president.
Nicolas Sarkozy also faced several investigations and judicial decisions in cases related to the financing of his election campaigns and his relations with businessmen and foreign figures.
As for François Hollande, he was not subjected to direct prosecution after the end of his term, but he witnessed investigations related to advisors and those close to the presidency.
