Declaration of interests: Jean-Paul Delevoye heard on Wednesday in free hearing

The former high commissioner for pensions, Jean-Paul Delevoye, was questioned Wednesday in Nanterre by the police officers in charge of the investigation into his non-conforming declaration of interests, which had caused his resignation in December in the middle of the debate on his reform. , AFP learned from a source familiar with the matter.

Read also: Jean-Paul Delevoye's declaration of interests: justice opens an investigation

The day after a search of his home in Bapaume (Pas-de-Calais), Jean-Paul Delevoye was interviewed as a free suspect by investigators from the Central Office for the fight against corruption and financial and fiscal offenses (OCLCIFF ). The Paris public prosecutor's office had opened an investigation on December 19 for “breach of trust” , “abuse of corporate property” and concealment, targeting facts reported by the High Authority for the Transparency of Public Life (HATVP) which it believed could constitute a criminal offense, "by reason of their number, the nature of certain omitted interests and the risks of conflicts of interest with its governmental functions". She pointed to the incomplete declaration of interests of Jean-Paul Delevoye and a possible "concealment of abuse of social property" for having accumulated for three months his government remuneration with that of chairman of the Parallaxe think tank.

An involuntary "error"

Faced with the cascade of press revelations about his parallel activities, Jean-Paul Delevoye had resigned in the midst of a social conflict over his pension reform. He had been replaced in this key function by the deputy LREM Laurent Pietraszewski. Appointed High Commissioner for Pension Reform in 2017, Jean-Paul legally combined his remuneration as a senior civil servant with that of Honorary President of Parallaxe since 2008. However, his entry into government in September 2019 made this accumulation illegal, since the Constitution prohibits " any professional activity" to members of the government. Jean-Paul Delevoye had breached his obligation to inform the HATVP of this accumulation. Recognizing an involuntary "error" , the ex-high commissioner undertook to reimburse the sums collected during these three months, ie a little more than 16,000 euros.

In his declaration of interests and activities, submitted in mid-November after entering government, the former high commissioner only indicated his multiple functions with the presidency of Parallaxe and two associations, as well as his past function as delegate. general of the IGS training group. The revelation of other mandates by the press had forced him to send the HATVP a rectified declaration comprising eight additional functions, including the past presidency of the Economic and Social Council (Cese) or the function of administrator of the SNCF Foundation.