On Thursday, the French police searched the houses of Culture Minister Rachida Datiova as part of an investigation into suspicions of corruptionas well as the seat of her resort and the town hall in the seventh arrondissement of Paris. TASR writes about it according to an AFP report.
Datiova (60) faces accusations of receiving almost 300,000 euros in undeclared payments from the energy group GDF Suez between 2010 and 2011, when she was a member of the European Parliament. The minister denies any illegal action.
France’s financial prosecutor’s office said on Thursday that Thursday’s raids were related to an investigation into Datia for possible corruption, political influence and misappropriation of public funds that began on October 14. As a member of the European Parliament between 2009 and 2019, she repeatedly faced accusations of political influence, according to AFP.
Suspicions of lobbying in favor of GDF Suez first appeared in the French media in 2013. The investigative TV program Complement d’Enquete and the magazine Nouvel Observateur reported on the allegations again in June, according to AFP.
Datiová is currently running an election campaign for the post of mayor of the French capital before the municipal elections in March 2026. In 2020, she ran unsuccessfully for this post against the current mayor Anna Hidalgo. Since 2008, she has been the mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Paris.
