In front of the senators, the main beneficiaries of the Marian Foundation are fighting to justify themselves.

After the sponsor – Prefect Christian Gravel, Secretary General of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Prevention of Delinquency and Radicalization (CIPDR) – it was Tuesday 30 May and Wednesday 31 May for the beneficiaries of the Mariana Fund, which was created after the terrorist. The assassination of Samuel Petty in 2020 to explain to the senatorial commission of inquiry about the use of this unexpected 2.5 million euros.

Several journalistic investigations found that the appropriation of this amount by some beneficiary associations constituted serious violations. Administrative investigation, as well as judicial investigation under the article “embezzlement of public funds”., “Breach of trust” and “unlawful taking of interest” started after this revelation.

The first associations heard on Tuesday, Civic Fab, General Fraternity or Observatory of Conspiracy, whose activities have been recognized for years, were able to describe in detail how they used the fund without problems. For the two structures released by the Senators on Wednesday, training proved more difficult. However, the Union of Physical Education and Military Training Societies (USEPPM) and Rebuild the Common are the two biggest beneficiaries of the fund with €355,000 and €330,000 respectively.

“My first grant application”

The main leader of the first, Mohamed Sifaoui, was not present before the senators “for health reasons”. Therefore, USEPPM president Cyril Karunagaran defended the sudden motivation of this structure born in 1885 after the proposal to launch into the “republican counter-discourse”. “The Office of Marlene Schiapa” At that time, the minister responsible for citizenship, who that Mr. Sifawi was asked to launch a counter-initiative on social networks. “An ambitious project that required significant resources”Mr. Karunagaran explains.

The file is assembled in a few days, which leads to “mistakes”, He admits. Starting with an over-ambitious budget – the association, which until now had an annual budget of around €50,000, is asking the CIPDR for €1.5 million over three years – which needs to be corrected after the first refusal. This is my first grant application. Justifies Mr. Karunagaran, who comes from the business world. In addition, the association had to get funds from other financial partners. “we had a discussion”His president assures, but it did not lead to results. “How can you start a project without being sure of the budgeted funds?” », asks the Chairman of the Finance Commission Claude Raynal (Socialist Party).