French-Algerian journalist Mohamed Sifaoui, former head of the association “Fonds Marianne” that received financing to fight separatism, was the object of a police search on Tuesday for embezzlement of 355,000 euros, alongside prefect Christian Gravel.
Sifaoui was co-director of the “Union of Physical Education and Military Preparation Associations” (U.S.E.P.P.M.), the main association implicated in this affair, which had received the endowment.
This contentious company is not only the subject of a Senate probe, but it is also the subject of a judicial investigation launched by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (P.N.F.) for accusations of theft of public funds.
An hour later, the residence of Christian Gravel, the retiring prefect in charge of the Inter-ministerial Committee for the Prevention of Delinquency and Radicalization (C.I.P.D.R.) in charge of handling the Marianne Fund, was also searched.
After the shock of Professor Samuel Paty’s murder, Marlène Schiappa–then Minister Delegate for Citizenship–established this fund on April 20, 2021, bestowed with an initial endowment of 2.5 million euros in order to finance associations promoting speeches endorsing the Republic’s values, with the purported intent of combating separatism.
Some of the videos it released using public funds targeted political individuals recognized in France for opposing President Emmanuel Macron, such as former deputy mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, along with National Assembly member Jean-Luc Mélenchon.