An investigation into misappropriation of public funds was opened in November by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office after complaints from anti-corruption watchdogs and Hidalgo’s political opponents.
Hidalgo’s trip also included official visits to French territories New Caledonia and French Polynesia, but she faced blowback as it came days after a terror attack on a French school and amid tensions following Hamas’ violent Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Hidalgo also visited her daughter, who lives in Bora Bora, but paid for the private part of her trip and the return air fare herself, according to the city.
The mayor is “confident as to the outcome of these investigations and is at the disposal of the judicial authorities,” the city said in a press release Tuesday.
The South Pacific trip — Hidalgo was accompanied by five members of her Cabinet — cost about €60,000, according to figures provided by her staff, amid a sharp increase in the city’s debt and a spike in local Paris taxes.
