[News] Paris 2024 Olympics organising committee headquarters raided by police for a second time in four months amid investigation into suspected corruption

The headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics were raided by police for a second time in four months amid an ongoing investigation into suspected corruption.  

 

 

The Paris 2024 organisers confirmed it was cooperating with the investigation by the country’s national financial prosecutor.

 

 

‘Paris 2024 confirms that the PNF (Parquet national financier) visited its headquarters on Wednesday 18 October and obtained all the information it requested,’ a statement read.

 

 

Paris 2024 is cooperating fully with the investigation, as it has always done.’

 

 

The AFP news agency reported that event management firms involved in the opening ceremony have also been raided by police.

 

 

The raids are reportedly part of an ongoing investigations being conducted by the PNF.

 

 

The PNF opened a preliminary investigation in 2017 for alleged embezzlement of public funds and favouritism over a Paris 2024 contract.

 

 

A second investigation was launched in 2022 related to contracts involving Paris 2024 and Solideo, the company responsible for the construction of Olympic sites and venues in Paris.

 

Paris 2024’s headquarters were initially searched in June, along with the offices of Solideo.

 

 

The homes of Paris 2024 chief executive Etienne Thobois and Edouard Donnelly, the executive director of operations, were also raided in June.

Offices of the Paris-based consultancy firm founded by Thobois and Donnelly were also searched.

 

 

Jean-Francois Bohnert, the head of PNF, revealed last month that the investigation had been yet to reveal any serious corruption or influence peddling.

 

 

‘It’s about favoritism, of illegal interest-taking,’ he told French radio station RTL. 

 

 

‘It’s about the way certain contracts have been distributed, the arrangements.

 

 

‘But I don’t see any elements, at least not at this stage, that would lead the investigation towards the most serious cases of corruption or influence peddling.’

 

 

Bohnert added that he wanted to ensure the ‘smooth running’ of next year’s Games.

 

 

The Paris 2024 Olympics are scheduled to take place between July 26 to August 11 next year, with the Paralympics following from August 28 to September 8.