A preliminary investigation for illegal taking of interests had been opened against the current Minister of Labor in June 2020, about two lithographs which had been offered to him by a company in 2017 while he was deputy mayor of Annonay.
MO12345LEMONDE with AFP
The file dates back to the time he was mayor of Annonay and deputy for the Ardèche district. The current Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt announced on Friday February 3 to the France-Presse agency that the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) had retained the offense of “favoritism”, in the case of the two works of art that He received as a gift in 2017.
A preliminary investigation for illegal taking of interests had been opened against Olivier Dussopt by the PNF in June 2020, about two lithographs by the painter Gérard Garouste which had been offered to him by a company in 2017. The survey, entrusted At the Central Office to Combat Corruption and Financial and Fiscal Offenses (OCLCIFF), was to verify possible facts of “corruption”.
In a summary note addressed to his lawyer, “the prosecution considers that there is only one complaint, in this case a formal offense of favoritism in a public market of 2009,” said the current Minister of Labor , adding that “no corruption” is criticized for him.
The elected links with the water management company questioned
Olivier Dussopt had been pinned in May of the same year by Mediapart for having received as a gift from Saur, a water management company, the two lithographs, while ‘A contract was precisely about to be concluded between the company and the city of Annonay.
The case reported by the information site dates back to January 2017, ten months before entering the government of Olivier Dussopt as Secretary of State for the Public Service. The works, estimated at the time at “just over 2,000 euros”, were offered through Franck Driveroux, one of the leaders of the Saur in Ardèche, reported Mediapart.
Olivier Dussopt first invoked a gift of “friend” of Franck Driveroux before recognizing “a gift from the company” offered during an interview with this manager and another executive of the Saur . The one who was at the time secretary of state explained that he had not declared these lithographs to the ethics of the National Assembly – as it is required for any gift of more than 150 euros – because he “ignored the value” of the two paintings. At the time of leaving the case, he had made it known “to avoid any controversy, [having] decided to restore this gift as soon as possible”.
The domicile of the government had been searched following the opening of the investigation in August 2020. During this search, “investigators from the Anti -Corruption Office (OCLCIFF) of the police Judicial in particular got hold of exchanges between Olivier Dussopt and the company seeming to leave little doubt about the existence of an arrangement around a public market dated 2009-2010 “, Note Médiapart February 3.
In his declaration to the news agency Friday evening, the Minister of Labor in post since May 2022, on the front line on the contested reform of pensions, believes that the PNF “did his job and proceeded to an investigation and multiple investigations that have brought up five possible grievances “.
“My oral and written expressions have largely convinced the prosecution”, which “considers that four out of five of these grievances have no consistency and classified them without follow -up”. “No corruption is therefore criticized for me,” adds the minister.
It is now up to justice to decide on judicial consequences which will be given to the offense of “favoritism” retained by the PNF.