Mr. Gravel "wished to submit his resignation, which was accepted". It is with these words that the Ministry of the Interior announced the departure of the boss of the CIPDR, the organization that was in charge of this fund launched on April 20, 2021 by Marlène Schiappa, then Minister Delegate for Citizenship after the shock caused by the assassination of Professor Samuel Paty.

Initially endowed with 2.5 million euros, it aimed to finance associations promoting the values of the Republic to fight against "separatism" and bring, especially on social networks, the contradiction to radical Islam.

Mr. Gravel's decision was taken following the publication on Tuesday by Beauvau of a report by the General Inspectorate of Administration (IGA) on the subsidy paid to the USEPPM (Union of Physical Education and Military Preparation Societies), the main winner of the fund.

The CIPDR "did not perform the necessary steps to properly monitor the implementation of the grant paid to the USEPPM", denounces the Inspectorate, in a report that lists many grievances.

This failure "proceeds" in particular from "failures in the organization of the service, a lack of vigilance and a privileged treatment reserved for this association" by the CIPDR.

The latter would not have sufficiently "taken into account" the specific alerts of an agent on the USEPPM. He had "insufficient follow-up on the execution of the grant," according to the IGA.

"Throughout the process, upstream and downstream", the IGA notes "a serious deficiency in the due diligence expected of the senior management of a central administration service responsible for ensuring the proper allocation of public funds".

"not eligible"

The IGA believes that the CIPDR's spring 2021 "call for projects" to select initiatives "was neither transparent nor fair". And in particular that "the USEPPM was not eligible for funding".

The IGA considers that "the volume and quality of publications" (451 communications on different accounts, 8 articles on a website) on social networks and the internet are lower than the planned production.

It regrets that "the use made of the grant" by the USEPPM "has not been in accordance with the objectives set out in the agreement" between it and the CIPDR.

The mission has "identified doubling of salaries", "some months", for the two main leaders of the project - including the president of the USEPPM. The latter, a part-time employee on this project, "exercised in parallel an entrepreneurial activity in the provinces," says the IGA, which also details expenses "not attributable" to the project, such as these 11 mobile phone subscriptions, instead of two necessary.

The IGA also noted "irregularities, likely to take the character of criminal offense and disciplinary misconduct". For example, the offence of "forgery and use of forgery", the list of directors in the application file does not mention "the identity of one of the project leaders, even though administrator".

Or the offence of "concealed work": have the surplus salaries of two project leaders been declared?, wonders the IGA, which also evokes "the possibility of tax fraud" and should denounce all the facts and suspicions to justice.

The report specifies that the amount of the subsidy was initially set, in May 2021, at "355,000 euros over one year". Only a payment of 266,250 euros was made. The IGA demands that "the CIPDR asks the USEPPM to reimburse nearly half of the subsidy paid", i.e. "127,476 euros".

Mr. Gravel was the first to be heard, in mid-May, by the Senate Commission of Inquiry on this fund. He said that this initiative stemmed from "a political commission" from Marlène Schiappa.

In addition, at the beginning of May, the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) opened a judicial investigation for suspicions of embezzlement of public funds in the management of this fund.

© 2023 AFP