Paris 2024 Olympics: what do the anti-corruption reports on the origin of the searches at the Cojo headquarters contain?

400 days before the 2024 Olympics in Paris, searches were carried out on Tuesday at the headquarters of the Organizing Committee in Saint-Denis and the headquarters of Solideo, the supplier of the Olympic works, in Paris. Investigators commissioned by the National Fiscal Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) are looking for information about the conditions for awarding several government contracts, two years after two warnings from the French Anti-Corruption Agency (AFA).

In these documents, drawn up in January and February 2021, which we have been able to review, the AFA identified significant risks of “conflict of interest” and “breach of integrity” in certain government contracts related to the organization of the 2024 Games. “At the date of the initial audit, Cojo’s conflict of interest management procedures were inaccurate, incomplete, and insufficiently enforced and monitored,” the report noted, recommending that Cojo establish a substantial mechanism.

The awkward silence of the deputy director of the Olympics

Some attributes were disputed by the controlling body, such as one of the parts of the contract related to the “operation of the Olympic and Paralympic venues”. It was awarded to a company whose two co-founder consultants worked for an expert consulting group company founded by the Associate Director of Paris 2024. It “came to Cojo after the contracts were published, tempered the inspectors, but he was present during the analysis of the proposal and was in the copy of the analytical emails” .

“Adherence to procedure would imply that the person concerned communicates the situation to the appropriate people in order to draw their attention to what may constitute a conflict of interest,” we can read in the AFA report. “In any case, the deportation of the person concerned from this procedure would seem necessary.”

When Cojo invites his friends…

The report noted more modest contracts (less than 100,000 euros), which, according to the established rules, did not require advertising, but consultations on three quotes. The speakers noted the call for companies “already in contact with Cojo, who sometimes face situations of potential unmanageable conflicts of interest.”

Thus, in 2018, a former GIP placement offer manager (a predecessor to Cojo who ran the app), who founded a consulting company after he left, was asked to respond to “a contract relating to his former position.” The contract was awarded to him in the amount of 50,000 euros, excluding taxes. For another market, Sports Movement Mobilization (€50,000), Cojo turned to three familiar companies. “The planned advertising methods do not comply with the requirements of the public procurement code and do not guarantee real competition,” AFA noted in one of its comments.

“There is no system for evaluating third parties with respect to integrity risks, although Cojo, in particular, has chosen to use intermediaries whose risk exposure has been proven,” the report notes in its findings.

On Tuesday, Cojo and Solideo said they were “fully cooperating with investigators” to facilitate their investigation and turn over the requested items.