France has fired Philippe Casenave from his role as the country’s top protocol chief due to his involvement in the misuse of funds and prostitution scandal when he was serving as the consul general of France in Marrakech.
Quoting three unnamed French diplomats, the news website Politico said that Casenave was fired within hours of taking office “over past wrongdoing.”
The now disgraced senior diplomat took office last week on Tuesday before he was dismissed hours later on the same day over “the alleged misuse of state property while he was France’s general consul in Marrakech, Morocco, from 2017 to 2021,” Politico reported.
The news outlet also quoted internal documents from the French Foreign Affairs Ministry, notably the findings of a 2021 investigation by the ministry.
According to Politico’s report, the ministry’s investigation established that Casenave was involved in lending his official residence in Marrakech to a friend of his.
The friend, who is a decorator, allegedly used the consul’s residence as “his own home,” the report detailed, adding that he “received friends on the weekends, and used the silverware and the dinner service with the insignia of the [French] Republic.” In addition, the investigation established that the consul “received young people, presumably prostitutes, on a regular basis” when the consul was absent.
“All of this revealed a clear ethical lapse, an abuse that very probably tarnished the reputation of the general consul in Marrakesh,” Politico quoted the investigation as concluding.
The controversy has raised uncomfortable questions over the appointment process for senior French diplomats.
“It’s stupefying that there was no screening before the nomination,” Politico quoted one of the diplomats as saying.
