Christian Gravel, the prefect responsible for the management of the Marianne Fund, a structure launched in 2020 by Marlène Schiappa at the heart of a controversy, has submitted his resignation to the Ministry of the Interior, according to a statement published on Tuesday. It was "accepted," the ministry said.
This resignation follows the publication of a report by the General Inspectorate of Administration (IGA) accusing him of having "reserved privileged treatment" to an association, the Union of Physical Education and Military Preparation Societies (USE PPM), when paying the fund's grants.
The Marianne Fund has been at the heart of a controversy in recent months and revelations by Mediapart and France 2 which have pointed to the opaque management of this structure launched after the assassination of Samuel Paty. Supposed to finance associations fighting against radicalization and separatism and endowed with 2.5 million euros, the Marianne fund is suspected of having mainly benefited the USE PPM and would have made it possible to pay up to 120,000 euros two former leaders of the association.
A commission of inquiry launched by the Senate
Another association, financed by the structure, is singled out: Rebuilding the common. According to Mediapart, this association would have published content targeting political opponents of the presidential party, particularly during the 2022 legislative campaign. The Senate had launched a commission of inquiry.
Christian Gravel, 49, was appointed Secretary General of the Interministerial Committee for the Prevention of Delinquency and Radicalization (CIPDR) in October 2020, under the authority of Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin and former Minister Delegate for Citizenship, Marlène Schiappa. The current Secretary of State for the Social and Solidarity Economy had defended herself at the end of April, ensuring that no winner of the fund was his friend or close friend and that the content published by Reconstruire le commun targeted "all political tendencies".