This procedure confirms the disclosure of “Additional investigations” and “New Ob” on exclusive documents showing that Rachida Dati received 299,000 euros from a law firm to which GDF Suez had already paid the same amount. He was then a member of the European Parliament and took positions considered beneficial to the gas sector. He always denied making this group a client in his legal activities.
Energy giant Engie (formerly GDF Suez) takes over the Dati file. Three months after the disclosure of the “Complementary investigation” and New Chat regarding the existence of indirect financial ties between former members of the European Parliament and the French gas giant, the group’s board of directors, held on September 24, discussed the topic. On that day, the Committee on Ethics, Environment and Sustainable Development (CEDD) released the conclusions of its internal investigation, as listed in the draft minutes of this meeting as “Additional Investigation” and New Obs can consult: “After the broadcast ‘Further investigation’, Engie has made its best efforts to bring together the elements available internally.”
The committee, consisting of four members of the board of directors, explained that traces of two payments had been found between the group and the law firm where Rachida Dati was domiciled: “Payments were found, but there was no trace of the contracts or related invoices which were definitely destroyed in accordance with the policy of archiving and destroying invoices after 10 years.” This is also decisive “that he will retain elements of the internal investigation so that they can be communicated to the appropriate authorities if there is a request”.
According to internal sources contacted by “Complément d’investigation” and New Obs, “management (from Engie) very uncomfortable with this subject”. When asked, the Engie Group emphasized that it would never comment on discussions taking place within the board of directors. Regarding this issue, Rachida Dati has always firmly denied any connection with GDF Suez.
In June, “Additional investigations” and New Obs has revealed documents from the accounting department of a Paris law firm, which is now closed, and, in 2010, was home to Rachida Dati, who became a lawyer shortly after being elected to the European Parliament.
These files show that the firm received a payment of 149,500 euros from GDF Suez on July 29, 2010. Less than three months later, on October 25, 2010, the law firm paid the same amount by check to Rachida Dati. In the accounting documents, this upcoming transaction is entitled “DATI HONORAIRE GDF SUEZ”.
In February 2011, a new payment from GDF Suez of 149,500 euros appeared in the company’s account. Two weeks later, on 23 February 2011, the same amount was paid to Rachida Dati, under the title “CHQ DATI RACHIDA”.
What is Rachida Dati’s mission in return for this payment? It’s impossible to know; contacted at the time, the law firm did not respond to a request for “Further Investigation.”
In Brussels, Rachida Dati declared her activity as a lawyer and ticked the box corresponding to her income level equivalent to more than 10,000 euros per month. On the other hand, he has not reported any financial interests that might influence the performance of his functions, as required by the code of ethics for members of the European Parliament. The same pattern occurred in the High Authority for Transparency and Public Life (HATVP) created in 2014, where Rachida Dati only mentioned her income as a lawyer (625,000 euros in 2010, 539,000 euros in 2011, 704,000 euros in 2012 and 205,000 euros in 2013).
In the European Parliament, Rachida Dati actively participates in debates on gas-related topics. Between December 2011 and April 2013, MEP proposed dozens of amendments to regulations that still favor this industrial sector, of which GDF Suez is a part. Elected officials even challenged the European Commission several times, and proposed a gas exploitation project in which GDF Suez was directly involved in Azerbaijan.
Rachida Dati has been questioned many times by the press about her alleged ties to GDF Suez, and also by the European Parliament in 2014, during a pre-investigation opened by the agency. They have always denied having GDF Suez as a client, including before the investigating judges of the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office who raised this file as part of their probe into the Renault affair.
Following the revelation of “Complementary investigations” and New ChatSocialist senator Rémi Féraud, a former Paris mayoral candidate, has called for legal proceedings in a report addressed to the Paris prosecutor’s office, which is still under study according to World. Based on letters from elected officials, the remuneration received by ministers can be in the form of: “facts that may characterize criminal acts of corruption and influence trading, as defined in article 432-11 onwards of the Criminal Code”.
These charges are similar to the Renault case in which the current Minister of Culture was referred to a Paris criminal court in September 2026. Suspected of lobbying in the European Parliament on behalf of the car manufacturer, Rachida Dati will be tried for “passive corruption and influence peddling” and “concealing abuse of power and breach of trust”. He has always maintained his innocence in this affair.
Contacted through her lawyer and her team at the Ministry of Culture, Rachida Dati did not wish to comment on the results of Engie’s internal investigation, as she refused to answer our questions about her alleged ties to the GDF Suez group. Contacted by telephone, the former president of GDF Suez, Gérard Mestrallet, confirmed this “GDF Suez never financed Rachida Dati”without answering our questions about payments found in the group’s accounts.
