Keneo, a consulting firm specializing in sports, was the subject of a search on Wednesday in one of the two preliminary investigations by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) targeting contracts awarded for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, learned the ‘AFP from a source familiar with the matter. The search of the premises in central Paris began on Wednesday morning and ended in the early afternoon. “We have brought our full collaboration to their approach,” Keneo said in a statement to AFP.
The search is part of an investigation opened in 2017 by the PNF and entrusted to the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption and Financial and Tax Offenses (Oclciff). This investigation concerns a series of contracts awarded in particular by “the Organizing Committee for the 2024 Olympic Games (Cojo) and the GIP 2024 (the bid committee which preceded the Cojo, editor’s note)”, said the PNF on Tuesday. The offenses covered are illegal taking of interests, embezzlement of public funds, favoritism and concealment of favouritism.
Current CEO of Keneo, Vincent de Bary confirmed to AFP the search “concerning Keneo’s activities before 2020”. And to add: “At that time and since 2016, the company belonged to the Dentsu group”, the largest Japanese advertising agency, also suspected in this country of having rigged calls for tenders for preparation contracts related at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“Myself”, underlined Mr. de Bary, “I bought Keneo from Dentsu in January 2021”. “And today, we have no market or contract relating to the organization of the 2024 Olympics, nor any link with Etienne Thobois and Édouard Donnelly”, co-founders of Keneo, he said. After being service providers for the Olympics, they became the Cojo’s first general manager in early 2018 and the Cojo’s second executive director of operations last November.
In an article from May 2017, even before Paris was officially named host city, Mediapart had indicated that Keneo had already received 2 million euros in GIP 2024 contracts. The investigation site mentioned potential conflicts of interest between the team officially responsible for preparing the French candidacy and the event agency, pointing out in particular the role of MM. Thobois and Donnelly.
At the time, Etienne Thobois had defended himself from any conflict of interest, recalling having cut ties and sold all his shares in the company. He could not be reached on Wednesday by AFP. Édouard Donnelly, boss of Keneo between 2015 and 2018 who then co-founded a competing agency, RNK, did not wish to comment, questioned on Tuesday by AFP.
The first searches were carried out on Tuesday as part of this investigation as well as another, opened in 2022 and also relating to contracts awarded within the framework of the Olympic Games. They targeted the Cojo and the Olympic facilities delivery company (Solideo). The source familiar with the matter clarified that RNK was not targeted by either of the two investigations.