Paris city offices searched amid investigation into Hidalgo's Tahiti trip

PARIS : Police raided the Paris City Hall offices on Tuesday as part of a preliminary investigation into alleged misappropriation of public funds following mayor Anne Hidalgo's trip to Tahiti last year, a judicial source said on Tuesday.

This investigation followed a complaint from an anti-corruption association to the Paris public prosecutor's office, along with reports from elected members of the Paris council and the Ile-de-France region, the source told Reuters.

Hidalgo in November responded to criticism of her trip to French Polynesia by publishing a list of meetings she attended and although she did not visit the Paris 2024 Olympics surfing venue in Tahiti, she said her deputy in charge of sports did.

Hidalgo's visit was presented as an inspection of the facilities but no photographs were published and her political opponents described it as a holiday.

She was cleared of any wrongdoing by the City Hall's ethics commission.

The Olympics will run from July 26-Aug. 11.