“Mediapart” had revealed in October 2022 the holding of this dinner bringing together many personalities, evoking an invoice of more than 100,000 euros for 90 guests, paid by the region.
MO12345LEMONDE with AFP
A search was conducted Tuesday, February 21 at the headquarters of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Lyon, as part of a national financial prosecutor’s office (PNF) on an expensive dinner given in the summer of 2022 by Laurent Wauquiez, we learned from concordant sources.
According to the Cabinet of the President (Les Républicains) of the region, this search took place in the premises of the community in the absence of Laurent Wauquiez. For its part, the PNF confirmed that the searches were carried out within the framework of a preliminary investigation opened in December 2022 “for favoritism, concealment of favoritism and embezzlement of public funds” after Revelations of Mediapart on this dinner and a report from the EELV group to the region in October. 2> “Logistics expenses linked to the site”
Organized on June 23 at the Château de la Chaize, in Beaujolais, this “Summit dinner” – of which a first edition had already held in the spring according to the online media – would have “gathered around 90 people” for a cost “of just over 100,000 euros”, a final addition of more than 1,100 euros per guest.
Were in particular at the table of various personalities such as Alain Mérieux, the founder of the Biomérieux company, the event magnate Olivier Ginon, the tennis star Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the skier Alexis Pinturault and the Chairman of the Management Board of the M6 group, Nicolas de Tavernost.
The regional opposition was offended by these expenses. In a response email to Mediapart, the region admitted to having taken the add to “100 % at its expense, without any private funding”. “We are around 165 euros per person, the rest is generally linked to exceptional logistics expenses linked to the site,” she added.