Jean Castex, former prime minister of France, has been briefly taken into police custody in Montpellier as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged misuse of public funds and document forgery.
The case dates back to his position as President of the Conflent Canigou communes in 2017 and he was detained on February 13.
At the heart of the probe was financial support granted to Selecom, a telecommunications firm specialising in radio coverage for remote areas.
The company, which had been struggling financially, was placed under a safeguard procedure by the Perpignan commercial court in 2016.
Despite this, Castex reportedly approved substantial public funds to support the firm in 2017 and 2018.
According to investigators, these payments fell outside the community’s legal remit and were allegedly issued in defiance of a formal warning from the Pyrénées-Orientales prefecture.
Moreover, they said, the funds were distributed in a manner deemed irregular due to the company’s financial status at the time.
Now serving as head of the Paris Transport Authority (RATP), Castex was questioned for almost 10 hours on charges of alleged forgery, use of forgeries and embezzlement.
His detention followed a report filed in late 2023 by the anti-corruption group Anticor, which triggered the preliminary investigation.
Despite the allegations, authorities have so far found no evidence of personal enrichment for Castex, the public prosecutor told French Media.
For his part, Castex said he remained at the disposal of the judicial authorities.
