French financial prosecutors have announced that authorities conducted searches at the Ministry of Culture, several private residences, and the office of the mayor of Paris’s 7th arrondissement as part of a corruption investigation involving Culture Minister Rachida Dati. The probe relates to her time as a member of the European Parliament.

Prosecutors stated that the searches are part of an investigation launched by two French judges in October into possible offenses, including “corruption through the payment or receipt of funds, influence peddling, embezzlement of public funds, concealment, and money laundering” during Dati’s tenure in the European Parliament.

Dati is considered a prominent candidate for the 2026 Paris mayoral race.

French media reported that the searches aim in particular to determine whether Dati received payments from the French energy company GDF Suez in 2010 and 2011 while serving as an MEP. Dati denies the allegations.

In a separate case, a judicial source said that French judges ordered in July that Dati and former auto executive Carlos Ghosn stand trial on charges of corruption and abuse of power related to consultancy fees.

Dati denies any wrongdoing regarding the fees she received during that period. Ghosn, who fled Japan in late 2019 aboard a private jet to Lebanon, also denies the misconduct allegations against him.