French investigators have searched the homes of a journalist and a former senior official over allegations of embezzlement from a fund set up in memory of a teacher beheaded by an Islamist radical.
The controversy is casting a shadow over Marlene Schiappa, minister for the social economy and associations and a high-profile figure in President Emmanuel Macron's government, who set up the fund.
Schiappa had not been targeted by any investigative action, but will on Wednesday answer questions by a senatorial commission of inquiry into payments made by the Marianne Fund, launched in April 2021.
Schiappa set up Marianne in response to the 2020 murder of Samuel Paty, a teacher who was beheaded by a Muslim fundamentalist after he showed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed to students in a class about free speech.
A Senate committee confirmed the raid on the home of Mohamed Sifaoui, co-chief of an association that received payouts from the fund.
A source close to the prob told the French news agency AFP that investigators were also at the home of Christian Gravel, the former head of a government anti-radicalisation committee that was tasked with managing the fund.
Marianne Fund payouts
Allegations have swirled for months that cash from the Marianne Fund was chanelled to people close to Schiappa, triggering a Senate probe and an investigation by financial prosecutors.
Sifaoui's USEPPM association received 355,000 euros of public money from Marianne's pot of 2.5 million euros.
"It turns out that a search has been in progress at his home since 6am," the head of the Senate inquiry, Claude Reynal, told a Tuesday hearing at which Sifaoui was slated to appear, reading out a message from his lawyer.
'failings and 'irregularities'
A report by the government audit office (IGA) last week highlighted numerous "failings" and "irregularities" by Sifaoui's association in both the tender process and the use of the funds.
Sifaoui and his co-chief at the USEPPM had "doubled their salaries" after winning the grant, the IGA found.
Meanwhile the anti-extremist videos, social media posts and articles they produced found almost no audience online.
Gravel stepped down from his job as head of the interior ministry committee that supervised the Marianne Fund following the IGA report.
Schiappa, who has denied any wrongdoing, was defended by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne in a Sunday interview.
"She is very committed ... someone with a lot of personality who wants to contribute," Borne told France 3 television, denying that Schiappa might be replaced in a widely anticipated government reshuffle.
Schiappa also drew controversy in April for appearing in a clothed photoshoot for Playboy, which critics slammed as an attempt to distract from the embezzlement allegations.
(with AFP)
