Édouard Philippe and Dominique de Villepin, both former prime ministers, are being investigated by France’s National Financial Prosecutor’s Office.
The cases come in an election cycle that has been marked by legal actions, with prospective candidate Marine Le Pen awaiting an appeal against a conviction which, if upheld, would bar her from the 2027 presidential race.
Philippe said he would cooperate fully with the investigation, which relates to accusations that, in his role as mayor and head of the Le Havre regional authority, he favored a non-profit organization run by an ally to oversee projects linked to the city.
The center-right politician is being probed for alleged embezzlement of public funds, favoritism and illegal conflict of interest, according to a statement from France’s financial prosecutor, Pascal Prache.
The alleged conflict of interest concerns a public contract worth more than €2m ($2.3m) that Le Havre’s regional authority signed with a charity called LH French Tech in July 2020. LH French Tech was run by local councilor Stéphanie de Bazelaire.
The case was made public on Tuesday, the day before the nation’s top financial authority announced its investigation into de Villepin over gifts he allegedly received while serving as foreign minister.
Probe into Napoleon Gifts
The investigation concerns two Napoleon statuettes allegedly received by de Villepin between 2002 and 2004, during his tenure as France’s top diplomat.
A report on French public television in April claimed that de Villepin had received the items, worth thousands of euros, from Robert Bourgi, a French lobbyist who has worked with African officials in former French colonies.
“A preliminary investigation … into charges of receiving stolen property, embezzlement of public funds and all related offenses” has been opened, prosecutor Pascal Prache said in a statement.
“Financial prosecutors will have no trouble getting to the bottom of this case, and Dominique de Villepin is calm and ready to cooperate with the investigation”, a member of the former foreign minister’s team told Politico.
Following the program, de Villepin said accepting the gifts from Bourgi had been a “mistake” but downplayed the significance of the allegations.
The investigations add to a presidential election cycle already shaped by legal cases. Le Pen, the former leader of the right-wing National Rally (RN), was convicted of being “at the heart” of a carefully organized system of embezzlement of European Parliament funds from 2004 to 2016.
Le Pen Awaits Crucial Appeal
Le Pen, who is often described as far-right for her positions on immigration and Islam, had been seen as one of the main contenders to replace the centrist President Emmanuel Macron until her conviction barred her from running for public office.
The presidential hopeful now awaits the appeal ruling, due on 7 July. If it goes against her, Le Pen is expected to be replaced as RN’s candidate by her protégé and current party leader Jordan Bardella.
Philippe appeared to be the most likely challenger to whichever candidate RN put forward, with polls suggesting he was neck-and-neck with both Le Pen and Bardella. That makes the present investigation particularly significant.
Polls have frequently shown Bardella as the favorite, ahead of Macron’s likely candidate Gabriel Attal and left-wing politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Attal’s weaker performance follows a sharp fall in Macron’s popularity since he called a general election in mid-2024, which led to a hung parliament unable to form a working coalition.
Record Number of Hopefuls
Philippe, the mayor of Le Havre, launched his campaign earlier this month, ending speculation over when he would enter the race for the Élysée Palace.
The 2027 presidential election has drawn a record number of hopefuls, with about 30 figures from across the political spectrum considering a run. Attal and Philippe are both jostling for the center-right candidacy. Attal also faces challenges inside Macron’s Renaissance party, including from Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin.
Former Socialist president François Hollande is also considering running, despite being the most unpopular French president since World War II.
De Villepin gained international fame for articulating France’s opposition to the 2003 war in Iraq. He has also been vocal on the war in Gaza and the wider Middle East. An outsider in the presidential race, he must still clear the first hurdle of gathering the mandatory backing signatures from 500 elected officials.