According to a statement from National Financial Prosecutor Pascal Prache, the failed raid was conducted within a probe linked to contracts over the organization of memorial ceremonies. French presidency staff told investigators they couldn’t search the Elysée Palace because the premises are covered by presidential immunity, the statement said.
The investigators had been looking into allegations of favoritism, corruption, influence peddling and conflict of interest in relation to the staging of memorial ceremonies at the Panthéon in Paris, per the prosecutor’s statement. The Panthéon mausoleum holds the remains of France’s great men and women, and several illustrious figures such as French-American singer Josephine Baker have been inducted in recent years.
According to French newspaper Le Canard Enchainé, which was the first to report on the attempted raid at the Elysée Palace, investigators were looking into why a firm called Shortcut Events had been repeatedly given contracts to organize ceremonies in the Pantheon. According to the newspaper, each ceremony cost €2 million.
Investigators are reportedly looking into links between Shortcut Events and the Centre for National Monuments, a French institution that manages the country’s vast historical heritage.
