Statuettes received at the Quai d'Orsay by Dominique de Villepin: investigation opened for handling stolen public funds
The national financial prosecutors' office explains that this preliminary investigation "concerns the circumstances under which a statuette and a bust are believed to have been given" to the politician "whilst he was foreign minister between 2002 and 2004".
Investigation by PNF against Villepin over statuettes received at the Quai d'Orsay
The national financial prosecutors' office (PNF) opened, on Tuesday 19 May, a preliminary investigation for handling stolen public funds against Dominique de Villepin. According to France Info, which reports the announcement made by the PNF in a statement published the following day, the investigation concerns the circumstances under which two objects — a statuette and a bust — are believed to have been given to the former foreign minister between 2002 and 2004, and subsequently retained by him.
Gifts funded by a head of state and a businessman
The matter had been brought to light by the programme Complément d'enquête, broadcast on France 2 on 30 April. Lobbyist Robert Bourgi stated in the broadcast that he had acted as an intermediary in the presentation to Dominique de Villepin of two statuettes depicting Napoleon. According to Bourgi, these objects are believed to have been paid for by Blaise Compaoré, then president of Burkina Faso, and by Italian businessman Gian Angelo Perrucci.
In the programme, Bourgi had estimated the value of the gifts to be far superior to that of the suits which led to proceedings against François Fillon: "It is ten times more than François Fillon's suits."
Villepin acknowledges "a mistake" and returns the statuettes
As a guest on the programme Questions politiques, broadcast on France Inter, franceinfo TV and Le Monde on 10 May, Dominique de Villepin admitted: "It was a mistake, I should not have accepted them." He also recalled that at the time of the events, no regulations governed this type of situation: "There was no framework for these situations."
At the end of April, the former minister had returned the two statuettes to the Quai d'Orsay. His team has since indicated that Villepin "remains calmly at the disposal" of the PNF, adding that the prosecutors' office "will have no difficulty in shedding light on this matter".
Potential candidate for the 2027 presidential election
The opening of this investigation comes as Dominique de Villepin is presented as a potential candidate for the 2027 presidential election. The PNF has not specified at this stage whether other individuals are targeted in the context of this preliminary procedure.
Source: France Info