3 days ago
French culture minister accepted money from energy group, report finds
Dati, an ally of ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy, denied any wrongdoing over the fresh allegations by renowned French investigative television show "Complement d'Enquete" and the Nouvel Observateur magazine.
She was accused by both outlets of accepting €299,000 from GDF Suez in two payments that transited a now defunct law firm, STC Partners, which coincided with her taking pro-gas positions in public and in parliament.
The two payments were marked as "Dati fees GDF Suez", the outlets reported.
"Ms Dati has already explained herself and has never been a lawyer for GDF Suez," her personal lawyers, Olivier Baratelli and Olivier Pardo told AFP.
Dati, a former magistrate-turned-lawyer, held a seat in the European parliament from 2009-2019 on behalf of France's main rightwing party and has been dogged for years by allegations of influence-peddling.
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Accusations that she was lobbying on behalf of GDF Suez first emerged in French media reports in 2013 and the 59-year-old former justice minister was questioned by the European parliament's ethics committee.
In 2021, Dati was charged with "passive corruption" over her dealings with disgraced former Renault chief Carlos Ghosn, also while she was a member of the European parliament.
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She is accused of accepting €900,000 in lawyer's fees from 2010-2012 from a Netherlands-based subsidiary of Renault-Nissan.
Dati, a daughter of working-class North African immigrants, also denies wrongdoing in that case.
She was brought back into government by President Emmanuel Macron in January 2024 in a reshuffle that was seen as tilting the formerly centrist cabinet further to the right.
