PARIS — French monetary police Tuesday morning searched the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics as a part of an investigation into the awarding of public contracts.
In an inner e mail to employees seen by POLITICO, the organizing committee mentioned searches had been carried out by “groups from the felony police and the general public prosecutor” who’re “gathering paperwork.”
The prospect of potential corruption involving contracts might ship a reputational knock to French President Emmanuel Macron, who has burdened to his ministers the significance of a profitable Paris Olympics, which had been awarded to the French capital in July 2017, just a few months after he was first elected.
In March, Macron mentioned the Paris Video games’ aim ought to goal to “welcome the world in the very best situations of security, group, social and ecological duty.”
In an announcement, Paris 2024 mentioned: “A police search is at the moment underway on the headquarters of the Organising Committee. Paris 2024 is cooperating absolutely with the investigators to facilitate their investigations.”
Contacted by POLITICO, the French monetary prosecutor (PNF) confirmed raids had been happening in “a number of areas,” together with on the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics Committee in addition to these of Solideo, the general public physique in command of the Paris Olympics’ building websites.
The raids are a part of two “preliminary investigations” over suspicions of misappropriation of public funds and favoritism concerning a number of public contracts awarded by each Solideo and the Paris 2024 Olympics Committee.
The Cupboard of Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo — who can be the president of Solideo’s board — advised POLITICO that investigators had not been in contact together with her at this stage.
The headquarters of a number of non-public firms who’ve been awarded public contracts had been additionally being searched on Tuesday, the PNF mentioned.
“We’re conscious that there was a search by police of the Paris 2024 headquarters right this moment. We now have been knowledgeable by Paris 2024, that they’re cooperating absolutely with the authorities on this matter and we might refer you to them for additional data,” an Worldwide Olympic Committee spokesperson mentioned.
Brigitte Henriques, the president of the French Nationwide Olympic Committee, dramatically introduced her resignation final month after infighting left the committee in turmoil.
The Olympic Video games — one of many world’s premier sporting occasions — has been overshadowed by organizational misconduct within the latest previous. Tokyo’s 2020 Summer time Olympics had been marred by scandal, wherein a high Japanese promoting government was arrested on a number of expenses of accepting bribes from officers at different firms.
Because of this, Paris 2024 was the primary Olympics to have an anti-corruption coverage for the Video games’ group, in a partnership with Transparency Worldwide.
However in 2021, the French anti-corruption company warned there have been dangers of “conflicts of pursuits” inside the Paris Olympics Committee and Solideo, citing “imprecise, incomplete” procedures which had been “insufficiently revered and monitored.”
The Paris 2024 Video games are scheduled to happen from July 26 to August 11.
This story has been up to date.
