By Dominique Vidalon
PARIS, Dec 18 (Reuters) – French authorities carried out searches at the Culture Ministry, private homes and the office of the mayor of the 7th district of Paris on Thursday as part of a corruption probe involving Culture Minister Rachida Dati in connection with her years as a European Parliament member, the Financial Prosecutor said.
The searches are part of an investigation two French judges opened in October into possible “active and passive corruption, influence peddling, embezzlement of public funds, concealment and laundering in connection with Ms Rachida Dati’s mandate as a Member of the European Parliament,” the statement added.
Neither Dati, seen as a leading candidate to become Mayor of Paris in 2026, nor her lawyers could be reached for comment.
According to French media, the searches are intended in particular to determine whether Dati was paid by then-French energy company GDF Suez in 2010 and 2011 while she was a member of the European Parliament. She has denied this.
In a separate case, French judges in July ordered that Dati and former automobile executive Carlos Ghosn stand trial for alleged corruption and abuse of power in a case focusing on consulting fees, a judicial source said.
Dati has denied irregularities in the fees she received during that time, and Ghosn, who fled Japan in late 2019 aboard a private jet to Lebanon, has denied allegations of misconduct against him.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Additional reporting by Juliette Jabkhiro and Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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