The Paris prosecutor's office is investigating a franco-russian association, in an effort to establish whether the organisation's leaders, a French MEP and a former senator, obtained advantages in exchange for promoting positions favourable to Moscow.
Two inquiries are in progress, one concerning suspicion of corruption and abuse of office, the other investigating possible breach of trust and money laundering.
According to a source close to the investigation, European Union parliamentarian Thierry Mariani, a member of the far-right National Rally, who has co-chaired the suspect association since 2012, and Yves Pozzo di Borgo, a former centrist member of the upper house Senate and member of the association, are at the centre of the probes.
According to Le Monde daily, Mariani and Pozzo di Borgo benefited from trips financed by Russia. The investigation will seek to establish to what extent these inducements could be linked to positions taken in favour of Russia.
The Franco-Russian Dialogue association was created in 2004 under the patronage of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Jacques Chirac, his French counterpart at the time.
It presents itself as "a privileged instrument of communication between the political, economic and cultural circles of the two countries" which aims to "contribute to the deepening of strategic relations and the privileged partnership between France and Russia".
Preliminary investigations were opened following a report from Tracfin, the financial intelligence unit of the French economy ministry.
Mariani told the French news agency AFP he was "stunned" when he "discovered the existence of these investigations through the press".
He said the association's accounts were "transparent and controlled" and that he had not received "any payment" from the group. "I do not hold any shares in a Russian company," he said.
Mariani added that the association had "returned the keys to the premises" it had been occupying because of a shortage of contributions.
(With AFP)
