PARIS, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Investigators from French judicial police on Tuesday searched the Elysee Palace as part of an inquiry into public contracts awarded for ceremonies held at the Pantheon, according to French media reports.
Officers from the Paris financial and anti-corruption unit attended the palace at dawn, the French newspaper Le Figaro said.
The probe focused on contracts awarded by the French presidency to an event management company, Shortcut Events, which was notably responsible for organizing the ceremonies for memorial ceremonies at the Pantheon between 2002 and 2024, the weekly Le Canard Enchaine said.
Allegedly, the company had consistently secured the contracts over more than two decades, with each ceremony costing the state around 2 million euros (about 2.4 million U.S. dollars).
The French presidency had not commented on the matter at the time of reporting, Le Figaro said. ■