Officers from the French police's financial unit on Tuesday searched several locations as part of a corruption investigation but were denied access to the presidential Élysée Palace. Investigators were looking into why one events company had been chosen to host important state ceremonies for more than two decades.
Issued on: 14/04/2026 - 15:58Modified: 14/04/2026 - 22:05
French police searched several locations Tuesday as part of a corruption investigation but were denied access when they sought to enter the presidential Élysée Palace, the national financial prosecutor's office said.
The searches were conducted as part of a probe into favouritism, conflict of interest, corruption and influence peddling, focusing on the awarding of certain public contracts related to the organisation of Pantheon ceremonies among others, the office said in a statement.
Several homes and offices were searched, the statement said, without elaborating.
French newspaper Le Canard Enchaine also reported that investigators were looking into why Shortcut Events had for over two decades been chosent to host the induction into the Pantheon mausoleum of France's most notable historic figures – including members of the French Resistance – and whether the company partly owned by Havas had received extraordinary support from the National Museums Centre, the Ministry of Culture or the Élysée.
The newspaper estimated that each ceremony cost "around 2 million euros".
Shortcut did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The last ceremony the company organised, according to Le Canard Enchaine, was one in 2024 to honour Missak Manouchian, a stateless Armenian poet who died fighting the Nazi occupation of France during World War II.
Before that, French-American dancer, singer, Resistance member and rights activist Josephine Baker became the first black woman to enter the Pantheon in 2021.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)
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