2023-06-13 13:28:24
The judicial inquiry into the Marianne Fund took precedence over the parliamentary inquiry. A search is in progress this Tuesday morning at the home of journalist Mohamed Sifaoui, announced the senate commission of inquirywho was to audition him at the same time.
A search also took place at the home of the prefect Christian Gravel, responsible for managing the fund. He resigned last Tuesday from his post at the head of the Interministerial Committee for the Prevention of Delinquency and Radicalization, after the publication of a damning report on the use of a €355,000 grant from the Marianne fund, putting him in question.
This report by the General Inspectorate of Administration, published last Tuesday, denounced the “privileged treatment” granted to the USEPPM (Federal Union of Physical Education and Military Preparation Societies), of which Mohamed Sifaoui was co-responsible.
The headquarters of the association also searched
The latter was to be heard at 9 a.m. by the Senate inquiry committee but, a twist at the opening of the debates, “it turns out that since 6 a.m. a search has been underway at his home”, preventing him from being able to honor this meeting, said Claude Raynal , chairman of this commission of inquiry, at the opening of the hearing, reading a message from Mohamed Sifaoui’s lawyer. The hearing was therefore postponed to Thursday.
Sources close to the case confirmed this search and that of the home of the other leader of the association, Cyril Karunagaran. The Paris headquarters of their association, which was to receive the largest sum of this fund (355,000 euros) was also targeted by a search.
The search of Mohamed Sifaoui’s home ended around noon. He is summoned on Wednesday before the financial investigators of Oclciff for a free hearing, said his lawyer Me Bernard Benaiem, confirming information from M6.
These searches are part of the investigation carried out by an examining magistrate and opened on May 4 “on the counts of embezzlement of public funds, embezzlement of public funds by negligence, breach of trust and illegal taking of interests relating to the management of the fund Marianne,” a judicial source told AFP.
Salary doublings
Launched on April 20, 2021 by Marlène Schiappa after the shock of the assassination of Professor Samuel Patythis fund, initially endowed with 2.5 million euros, aimed to finance associations promoting the values of the Republic to fight against “separatism” and radical Islam on social networks.
However, the Marianne fund made it possible to finance a mysterious association, “Rebuild the common”, which disseminated political content denigrating opponents of Emmanuel Macron, in the midst of the 2022 presidential campaign, recently revealed Mediapart. Investigations by France 2 and Marianne magazine had already highlighted the opaque management of the “Marianne fund”.
The General Inspectorate of Administration also noted serious “irregularities” in the management of the USEPPM association, such as “doubling of salaries” for the two project leaders, with ultimately a very disappointing result in terms of of content: 451 communications on different accounts, 8 articles on a website.
The senatorial commission of inquiry has heard several protagonists in this affair since mid-May. During his hearing last Wednesday, Sébastien Jallet, the former chief of staff of Marlène Schiappa, had conceded that the minister had intervened to dismiss an association from the Marianne Fund, while denying any favoritism in the selection of projects.
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