French financial investigators have searched the official residence and workplace of President Emmanuel Macron in connection with lucrative contracts awarded for organizing ceremonies, officials said on Friday.
Thursday's operation was part of a probe into the induction of prominent individuals into the Panthéon – a neoclassical mausoleum that serves as a final resting place for France's most illustrious citizens – according to the public prosecutor's office for financial affairs.
The search had been agreed in advance with the Élysée Palace. When investigators first arrived unannounced at the end of April, they were denied access to the premises.
According to the French investigative newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné and the daily Libération, the induction ceremonies were organized by the same company for 22 years, from 2002 to 2024.
Each event was reportedly billed at around €2 million ($2.3 million).
According to the newspapers, the authorities were trying to establish whether the company may have received support from the Élysée, the Culture Ministry or the Centre for National Monuments (CMN), which is responsible for awarding contracts.
Since the French Revolution, more than 80 distinguished French figures, including authors, scientists, philosophers and resistance heroes were interred in the Panthéon in the city's Latin Quarter. They include Victor Hugo, Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Marie Curie.
