A reception that could be expensive. A search was carried out on Tuesday February 21 at the headquarters of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Lyon as part of an investigation by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) into an expensive dinner organized in the summer of 2022 by Laurent Wauquiez, learned Agence France-Presse from concordant sources.
According to the office of President LR of the region, this search took place in the premises of the community in the absence of Laurent Wauquiez. For its part, the PNF confirmed that the searches were carried out as part of a preliminary investigation opened in December “for favouritism, concealment of favoritism and embezzlement of public funds” after revelations from Mediapart on this dinner and a report of the group EELV to the region in October.
The “summit dinner” organized for 90 personalities at the end of June 2022 at the invitation of Laurent Wauquiez in a castle, at a cost of just over 100,000 euros – more than 1,100 euros per guest, meal and rental understood –, had aroused a shower of criticism in October after revelations from Mediapart. According to the online media, a consultant had notably participated in the organization of the dinner for an invoice of 48,000 euros including tax. The presidency of the region had told Mediapart that it had taken the bill “100% at its expense”, but did not specify on which budget this expense had been charged.
A few days later, the EELV group, the main opposition formation in the region, had alerted the Regional Chamber of Accounts and made a report to the PNF so that “any suspicion of embezzlement of public funds and illegal taking of interest “.
In January, the socialist group in the region had urged the presidency to lift the veil on this dinner as well as on previous editions, after obtaining a favorable opinion from the Commission for Access to Administrative Documents (Cada).
“The tax payer [….] has the right to know how the region’s money is being used. Under no circumstances should it serve the personal interests of Laurent Wauquiez, who has clearly displayed his ambitions for the presidential election of 2027″, the socialist group then told Agence France-Presse.
Requested on Tuesday by Agence France-Presse, the presidency of the region simply affirmed to remain “very serene” and to be “at the disposal of justice to communicate in the greatest transparency all the documents which will be requested of it”. .
Previously, Laurent Wauquiez’s cabinet had explained that these meals, called “summit dinners”, aimed to bring “in relation personalities from all walks of life: cultural, economic, sporting, associative, social and solidarity economy…” to “create in [the] region great synergies between actors” for its development.
These dinners, which bring together personalities from the region and the first edition of which was held in March at the Bocuse Institute near Lyon, are intended to be held two or three times a year.
