French investigators have searched the presidential palace as part of a probe into alleged favouritism and corruption, the financial public prosecutor’s office said Friday, after a previous attempt was refused.
The search, carried out on Thursday, is linked to an investigation into the repeated selection over several years of the same company to organise induction ceremonies at the Pantheon mausoleum, where prominent French figures are buried.
“Search operations took place on May 21 on the premises of the Elysee Palace, as part of the judicial inquiry focusing in particular on the conditions under which certain public contracts relating to the organisation of Pantheon ceremonies… were awarded,” the financial public prosecutor’s office said.
Thursday’s operation was “preceded by institutional consultations to ensure they could proceed,” it said.
The Elysee declined to comment when contacted by AFP.
In April, investigators had tried to search the palace but were denied access on the grounds that the constitution guarantees the “inviolability of premises attached to the presidency”, financial public prosecutor Pascal Prache said at the time.
The searches are part of an investigation opened in October 2025 into suspected favouritism, corruption and influence peddling.
French newspaper Le Canard Enchaine said it came as investigators were looking into why Shortcut
Events had for over two decades until 2024 been picked to host the induction into the Pantheon mausoleum, estimating each ceremony to cost “around 2 million euros”.
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