Revelations follow.
Several members of Emmanuel Macron's political entourage, including ministers in office, are or have been the subject of legal proceedings.
Le Figaro
takes stock of all the charges in progress or closed.
The news fell on Monday, October 3.
The secretary general of the Élysée,
Alexis Kohler
, has been
indicted for "illegal taking of interests"
in the investigation into his links with the Italian-Swiss shipowner MSC.
This navigation company was founded and is currently run by his mother's cousins, the Aponte family.
According to information from
Figaro
, Emmanuel Macron's right-hand man, in office since 2017, has been confirmed in office despite this reversal.
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This indictment comes following a complaint filed in January 2020 by the anti-corruption association Anticor, the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) told
Le Figaro
.
The institution added that no judicial control measure has been taken against Alexis Kohler.
The PNF also opened an investigation in June 2021 into suspicions of “
influence peddling
” targeting it as well as officials from Veolia and Engie, around the Veolia-Suez merger.
A first for a minister in office
The Minister of Justice,
Éric Dupond-Moretti
, was referred to the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR).
A first for a minister in office.
The Keeper of the Seals is accused of having taken advantage of his position to settle accounts with magistrates whom he had opposed when he was a lawyer.
“
We immediately lodged an appeal in cassation against this judgment.
This stop no longer exists
, ”announced Me Christophe Ingrain and Rémi Lorrain at the exit of the CJR, in Paris.
Read alsoSuspected of conflicts of interest, Éric Dupond-Moretti caught in the trap
Éric Dupond-Moretti, whose relations with the judiciary are notoriously difficult, said on Tuesday September 27 that he had "
virtually assured
" of being referred to the CJR.
“
I have always said that I got my legitimacy from the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister and from them alone
,” he added.
The former tenor of the bar, minister since the summer of 2020, had been indicted for "
illegal taking of interests
" in July 2021.
Still within the government,
Sébastien Lecornu
, Minister of the Armed Forces, is also in the hot seat.
He is the subject of an investigation, opened in 2019, for
“illegal taking of interests”
for his past activities at the head of the department of Eure.
In a statement to the High Authority for the Transparency of Public Life (HATVP), the Minister claimed to have received between July 2016 and June 2017 a total of 7874 euros gross of "
attendance fees
" as administrator of the Société des Autoroutes Paris Normandy (SAPN).
Read alsoSébastien Lecornu: “We need to increase the number of reservists”
This investigation, unveiled in January 2021 by
Le Canard enchaîné
and
Liberation
, has been open since March 2019. According to
Liberation
, it was born following a letter from a
“local authority banker converted to energy”,
addressed in January 2019 to the then head of the PNF, Eliane Houlette.
Olivier Dussopt
, Minister of Labour, is also the target of an investigation for "
illegal taking of interests
" and "
corruption
", opened in June 2020. As part of this case, his home was searched in August 2020. He is accused of having received two lithographs as a gift in 2017, when he was mayor of Annonay (Ardèche) and deputy for this constituency.
These works, estimated at just over 2000 euros, were offered through Franck Meneroux, one of the leaders of Saur in Ardèche, according to
Le Monde
.
McKinsey, an “affair of state”
The former Minister of Health,
Agnès Buzyn
, was indicted in September 2021 for "
endangering the lives of others
".
The CJR has been conducting an investigation into the government's management of the epidemic since July 2020. This questioning is the first in this vast file devoted to the way in which the government anticipated and then managed the health crisis, which caused this day more than 150,000 dead in France.
The former project manager at the Élysée,
Alexandre Benalla
, was sentenced to three years in prison, including one year under an electronic bracelet, for violence committed during the demonstration on May 1, 2018, which sparked a resounding scandal. .
The defendant appealed the decision.
He is also the target of three other investigations, including one for "
corruption
" involving the Russian oligarch Iskander Makhmudov.
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Lancet
draws up a severe indictment against the management of the pandemic
Four days before the first round of the presidential election, the PNF announced the opening of an investigation into the “
tax optimization
” practices of the consulting firm
McKinsey
, revealed by a Senate inquiry committee.
She assured that the contracts concluded by the State with this type of firm had "
more than doubled
" under Emmanuel Macron's five-year term, to reach a record amount of more than one billion euros in 2021. oppositions have denounced a "
matter of state
".