French president’s ‘right-hand man’ allegedly failed to reveal family ties to public investment agency
The top official in Emmanuel Macron’s office has been charged with a conflict of interest.
The
move against Alexis Kohler, who holds one of France’s most powerful
jobs as Élysée secretary general, came hours after another ally of the
French president, the justice minister, Éric Dupond-Moretti, was ordered
to stand trial in a separate case, also over a conflict of interest.
Kohler
is accused over his professional and family links with the
Italian-Swiss shipping firm Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), which
is run by his mother’s cousins, prosecutor Jean-François Bohnert said in
a statement.
On Monday, Kohler “categorically
denied any wrongdoing”, his lawyer said, while an official in Macron’s
office said Kohler remained in his post.
In
2018, Anticor, an anti-corruption NGO, filed a legal complaint against
Kohler for illegal influence-peddling concerning contracts awarded to
MSC in 2010 and 2011.
Kohler allegedly failed
to reveal his family connections with MSC to the French agency for
public investment, where he worked at the time. The case was dismissed
the following year, but in 2020, Anticor filed a civil case, which
usually triggers an investigation by a magistrate.
Kohler, whose office at the Élysée is located
next to that of the president, is often described as Macron’s right-hand
man. His job involves handling emergencies, major economic and social
issues as well as some political decisions.
His lawyer, Eric Dezeuze, said the discovery of evidence linked to the charging would allow Kohler “to prove his innocence”.
But Anticor lawyer Jean-Baptiste Soufron said “the question of his resignation is now on the table”.
Adding
to pressure on Macron’s administration, Dupond-Moretti was ordered
Monday to stand trial, charged with misusing his position to settle
scores with opponents from his legal career. The former star lawyer is
the first sitting French justice minister to be charged in a legal
investigation.
The accusations relate to
administrative inquiries ordered into three judges during
Dupond-Moretti’s time as minister, which were denounced by critics as a
witchhunt.
The three judges had ordered police
in 2014 to pore through the phone records of dozens of lawyers and
magistrates, including Dupond-Moretti, as part of an investigation into
the former president Nicolas Sarkozy.
The
order to stand trial was issued by the investigation commission of the
law court of the republic in Paris, which hears cases of alleged
wrongdoing by serving ministers.
His lawyers,
Christophe Ingrain and Rémi Lorrain, said they had already appealed,
sparking a temporary suspension of the move. Lorrain said France’s
highest appeals court would pursue the matter.
A source close to the case said it was uncertain
when the appeals court would rule on the matter. Lorrain said there had
been “many irregularities” in the case, and the chief prosecutor,
François Molins, had been “unfair and biased”.
The
case against Dupond-Moretti goes back to January 2021, when Anticor and
a magistrates’ union filed a legal complaint, accusing him of using his
ministerial powers to take revenge on his enemies in the judiciary. He
was charged the following July.
Despite
opposition calls for him to be sacked, Macron reappointed him as justice
minister in a cabinet reshuffle earlier this year.
France’s
two main magistrates’ unions said the accusations put Dupond-Moretti in
an “unprecedented” position. In a statement, they said there could be a
further conflict of interest when Dupond-Moretti, as justice minister,
picks a successor to Molins, who is to retire in June.
“He would get to appoint his own accuser,” the unions said.
The anti-corruption NGO Transparency International called for Dupond-Moretti’s resignation.
Contacted by AFP, the office of the prime
minister, Élisabeth Borne, declined to comment on whether
Dupond-Moretti’s job was at risk.
A
spokesperson for the prime minister noted simply that “the procedure is
ongoing” and that it was organised so as not to affect Dupond-Moretti’s
business as justice minister.
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