a former consultant targeted by an investigation for embezzlement of public funds

An investigation was opened in particular for “favoritism” and “embezzlement of public funds” in connection with the consulting activities for the implementation of the Culture Pass of Éric Garandeau, currently in charge of public affairs at TikTok, franceinfo learned on Wednesday 19 June from a judicial source, confirming information from the media The letter.

The investigation was opened by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) in November 2023, after a report from the Attorney General of the Court of Auditors in July 2023. This investigation, entrusted to the Economic Crime Repression Brigade (BRDE) of the judicial police, looks into the activities of Éric Garandeau, general inspector of finances and former president of the National Cinema Center, commissioned for a time by former minister Françoise Nyssen as one of the pilots of the implementation of the Pass Culture.

Éric Garandeau, who became director of public affairs for the Chinese social network TikTok, involved his company as a subcontractor for this system. According to this same judicial source, searches were carried out at the beginning of June in particular at the Ministry of Culture, at the Interministerial Digital Directorate (Dinum), at the home of Mr. Garandeau and at the headquarters of Octo technology, a state startup.

In July 2023, the Court of Auditors ruled against the government’s appeal “under questionable conditions” to external consultants during the implementation of the Culture Pass. In particular, the way in which the project was managed in 2017 and 2018, “excessively informal” through a “state start-up”which itself used private service providers and subcontractors.

Eric Garandeau resigned in November 2019 from his consulting activities with Pass Culture after an article in Mediapart.