Tony Estanguet's salary in the sights of justice. The National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) has opened an investigation into the remuneration conditions of the president of the organizing committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Cojop) in Paris, Agence France Presse (AFP) learned on Tuesday, February 6, from source close to the file.

The investigation was entrusted to the Parisian judicial police "last week", said this source. Contacted by AFP, the PNF indicated that it did not wish to "communicate at this stage on the existence of a possible preliminary investigation relating to the remuneration of Tony Estanguet".

Tony Estanguet received annual remuneration of 270,000 euros gross until 2020, according to figures communicated by Cojop in 2018. This remuneration was then likely to change within a limit of 20%, depending on certain performance criteria, Cojop indicated at the time. But as Cojop is a 1901 law type association, the remuneration of its directors is capped by law at significantly lower levels.

According to a recent article in Le Canard chainé, the former sportsman would have created a company which invoices “non-commercial services” to Cojop, which he manages. Which questions the control of "the reality and quality of the services" carried out by the Estanguet company, the newspaper continued in October.

Tony Estanguet, triple gold medalist, doesn't hate money! An accounting trick allows the boss of the #Paris2024 Organizing Committee to receive €270,000 gross annually (excluding bonuses) for his “services”. Without much control…



➡️ https://t.co/Tpwe6OBCXa


✍️@_A_u_r_e_l pic.twitter.com/7guKsWL6KA

— The Chained Duck (@canardenchaine) November 1, 2023

“Astonishment” from Cojop at the opening of an investigation

“The framework for the remuneration of the president of the Organizing Committee is very strictly regulated,” Cojop reacted to AFP on Tuesday, expressing its “astonishment” at the announcement of the opening of the investigation. Tony Estanguet's remuneration "was decided and validated by the first Board of Directors of the organizing committee on March 2, 2018, which ruled in his absence, in a sovereign and independent manner", specifies Cojop.

The amount of remuneration was decided on the proposal of a “remuneration committee” composed of “independent experts responsible for ensuring the relevance of our remuneration policy”, adds Cojop.

“Its payment terms were validated by the general economic and financial controller, after consultation with the URSSAF,” adds Cojop. 

“The amount of invoices inherent to this remuneration is subject to an annual audit” by an “internal audit unit independent of the executive of the organizing committee and an examination by the Remuneration Committee”, says again the body, specifying that this “approach does not correspond to any legal obligation but responds to a desire for transparency”. 

At the start of 2021, two reports from the French Anti-Corruption Agency (AFA) on the organization of the Paris-2024 Olympics (July 26-August 11) noted “risks of attacks on probity” and “conflicts of interest”.

In one of these reports, the AFA mentioned the case of Tony Estanguet's company, pointing out an "atypical set-up within the framework of an association under the 1901 law", which "is not without its difficulties" , recalls the Chained Duck.

The organization of the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games is already the subject of three other separate financial investigations, in particular for suspicions of favoritism and misappropriation of public funds during the award of contracts.

With AFP

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