Édouard Philippe questioned as assisted witness in inquiry into public funds
The Mayor of Le Havre and Horizons candidate for the 2027 presidential election was placed on Thursday under the status of assisted witness in an inquiry into embezzlement of public funds and favouritism.
Inquiry into embezzlement of public funds at Le Havre
According to TF1 Info, Édouard Philippe was placed on Thursday 29 October under the status of assisted witness. The Mayor of Le Havre and Horizons candidate for the 2027 presidential election was questioned all day by two financial investigating judges in the framework of an inquiry into "embezzlement of public funds, favouritism and moral harassment" within the Le Havre urban agglomeration community.
This status of assisted witness, less incriminating than a formal charge, was welcomed favourably by his entourage. "This is a very positive decision. The judges consider that there is nothing to reproach Édouard Philippe with and that there are no grounds to formally charge him," declared a representative of the former Prime Minister to TF1-LCI. In the current situation, this qualification reduces the prospects for judicial proceedings.
Origin: a complaint from 2023
The inquiry started with a complaint from a former deputy chief executive of the Le Havre urban community, Cornélia Findeisen. Her suspicions concerned a multi-year objectives agreement for the management of the Digital City, signed in July 2020 by Édouard Philippe, president of the Le Havre Seine Métropole urban community, and Stéphanie de Bazelaire, volunteer president of the LH French Tech association.
The association, created in July 2020 and the sole candidate in a call for expression of interest launched in March 2020, was to receive 2.154 million euros in public service compensation to carry out digitisation projects. Findeisen filed an initial complaint in 2023, which resulted in a preliminary inquiry and searches conducted by the national financial prosecutor's office. She renewed her complaint in June 2025 with the status of civil party claimant, which led in May 2026 to the referral of the case to Paris-based financial investigating judges.
The status of assisted witness may be revised during the inquiry if new evidence emerges.
Source: TF1 Info