An offense of “favoritism” was retained by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) against the Minister of Labour. However, Olivier Dussopt keeps “all the confidence of the Prime Minister”, indicated this Saturday Matignon.
The PNF retained this “favouritism” offense for a future trial which will relate to a public contract concluded at the end of the 2000s with the Saur group. The minister, at the forefront of pension reform, “challenges” the idea of an “arrangement” with a water treatment distribution group when he was mayor of Annonay, he said Saturday on France Inter.
The prosecution “convinced of my good faith”
According to information from Friday, revealed by Mediapart, the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) retained the offense of “favouritism” for a future trial against Olivier Dussopt which will relate to a public contract concluded at the end of the 2000s with the Saur group. “In May 2020, a press article believed it could question my relationship with a water group in the town of Annonay, of which I was the mayor” and “the financial prosecutor’s office opened an investigation and carried out very many checks, ”said the minister on France Inter.
“At the end of this investigative work, the prosecution had grouped the facts into five points and I note that the explanations given with my lawyer convinced the prosecution of my good faith since on four of these five points, the prosecution decided that it was necessary to classify by retaining that there was no prosecution for corruption, taking of interest or enrichment”, he added.
“Little doubt about the existence of an arrangement”
But “the prosecution considers that in the context of a procedure for public procurement in 2009 (…), there could be an offense of favoritism”, admitted Olivier Dussopt. “It is an affirmation, a thesis, that I dispute and I have only one wish (…), it is to continue to convince and explain how things happened to convince of my good faith”.
According to Mediapartthe search carried out at the Minister’s premises by financial investigators from Oclciff (Central Office for the Fight against Financial and Tax Crimes) revealed “exchanges between Olivier Dussopt and [la Saur] seeming to leave little doubt about the existence of an arrangement around a public market dated 2009-2010 ”, when he was deputy and mayor of Annonay (Ardèche).