The National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) announced this week through its prosecutor, Jean-François Bohnert, that it would not disrupt the Paris 2024 Games. But in the meantime, it is continuing its work. According to a report in L’Equipe, confirmed by AFP from a judicial source, an investigation has been opened by the PNF into Michaël Aloïsio, the OCOG’s deputy CEO. The investigation began last week and is aimed at verifying the accusations of favouritism made by a former executive of the Organising Committee. The PNF magistrates are interested in the information contained in a complaint filed at the end of August by Sébastien Chesbeuf, a former employee of Paris 2024 who has become a consultant in the sports events sector. He left the OCOG on very bad terms, notably with Michaël Aloïsio, and is denouncing the conditions under which a public contract was awarded in 2023 by the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur (PACA) region for its pre-bid for the 2030 Winter Games. Sébastien Chesbeuf was working on this project as a consultant for the Keneo agency, until the intervention of the deputy director general of the Paris 2024 OCOG, who, according to the complainant, dissuaded the office of the region’s president, Renaud Muselier, from continuing the collaboration. According to Sébastien Chesbeuf, Michaël Aloïsio pushed the region to recruit another agency, RNK, created at the end of 2020 by Edouard Donnelly, now executive director of operations at the Paris 2024 OCOG. Michaël Aloïsio has always denied that he sought to favour one agency over another. Refuting Sébastien Chesbeuf’s accusations, he explained that his dealings with the PACA region, which is now associated with the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in a joint bid, were simply a matter of “sharing experience”. Two separate investigations into suspicions of favouritism, illegal taking of interest and misappropriation of public funds in the awarding of the contracts were opened by the PNF at the end of June. But according to its prosecutor, Jean-François Bohnert, at this stage they have not uncovered any “serious” facts such as “corruption“.
