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French labour minister Muriel Pénicaud has been summoned as a witness over potential financial irregularities relating to a state body she used to lead.
Ms Pénicaud, a key figure in French president Emmanuel Macron’s government, will be questioned under caution on May 22, according to a source close the minister.
The news was first reported by Le Canard Enchaîné, a weekly French satirical newspaper.
The judges are looking into the so-called “Business France” affair after a probe was opened last year.
The case concerns allegations of favouritism over an event thrown in 2016 for Business France — which Ms Pénicaud headed at the time and promotes the country as an investment destination — in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show. Mr Macron, the minister of the economy at the time, was present at the party celebrating French Tech.
Havas, the public relations firm, hosted the affair but did not go through a public tender process, which has raised questions over compliance with public procurement rules. Havas said it had an 18-month contract with Business France, which meant it did not need to pass a public tender, according to Reuters.
Ms Pénicaud, who is central to Mr Macron’s labour reforms, is not under formal investigation. An escalation in the case could threaten her position in Mr Macron’s government. The French president has previously said that any of his ministers placed under formal judicial investigation would have to resign.
The minister remains “serene” as “she herself asked for an inquiry into this matter when she discovered there maybe was a problem with the contract,” said the source close to the minister.
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