Jean Castex, the former French Prime Minister, was briefly taken into custody in Montpellier on February 13 as part of an ongoing investigation into suspected misuse of public funds and document falsification. The inquiry traces back to 2017 when he served as the head of the Conflent Canigou communes.
The core of the investigation revolves around public funds allocated to Selecom, a telecommunications company specializing in radio coverage for remote regions. At the time, Selecom was struggling financially and had entered a safeguard procedure by the Perpignan commercial court in 2016. Yet, Castex allegedly approved significant public financial support for the company in both 2017 and 2018.
Investigators suggest that these payments were outside the legal scope of the community’s authority and went against a formal warning issued by the Pyrénées-Orientales prefecture. Furthermore, the distribution of these funds was deemed irregular given the company’s fragile financial position at the time.
Now in charge of the Paris Transport Authority (RATP), Castex underwent nearly 10 hours of questioning concerning allegations of forgery, using forged documents, and embezzlement. This detention followed a report filed by the anti-corruption organization Anticor in late 2023, which prompted the preliminary investigation.
Despite the serious accusations, the public prosecutor has yet to find any evidence suggesting Castex personally benefited from the funds. Castex, for his part, has expressed his willingness to cooperate with judicial authorities throughout the process.
Castex isn’t the first politician from President Emmanuel Macron’s party to be entangled in accusations of corruption or misuse of public resources. Another former prime minister, Édouard Philippe, is currently under investigation for “illegal conflict of interest and misappropriation of public funds.” Philippe, however, has denied the allegations and vowed that he and his team would prove to investigators that they “followed the rules.”
Meanwhile, former minister Aurore Bergé has been accused of “perjury and false testimony” in a case involving alleged collusion with private daycare centers. Bergé has strongly denied the claims, calling them “baseless” on social media.
In a separate case, former labor minister Olivier Dussopt was recently fined €15,000, with €10,000 of it suspended, for favoritism in the 2009 water market in Annonay, Ardèche. Back when Dussopt was the deputy mayor, he allegedly favored the private water treatment company Saur in awarding a public contract without a proper bidding process. Dussopt accepted the court’s ruling but emphasized that the incident occurred over 15 years ago, stressing that the company helped reduce water prices by 25% and that he always acted in the best interests of Annonay’s residents.
