French police have launched an investigation into a town hall official in a Paris suburb accused of having links with the Muslim Brotherhood, months after the government announced new measures to fight the organisation.
The official is described by French media as the right-hand man of Mayor Patrick Chaimovitch, of the city of Colombes north-west of Paris, who is affiliated to the leftist Greens party.
The prosecutor's office, which has its headquarters in nearby Nanterre, launched an investigation over alleged “illegal acquisition of interest and money laundering” after the local prefect Alexandre Brugere filed a report.
Police started by searching the home of the official, Stephane Tchouhan, before seizing documents related to the financing of local grassroots organisations from the town hall.
“We gave them access to the offices, computers, and files,” Mayor Colombes told daily newspaper Le Parisien on Thursday, one day after the event, adding that “the police deployment surprised everyone”.
Mr Tchouhan has denied any links to the Muslim Brotherhood.
“The goal is to humiliate me, and this whole affair is a fabrication,” he said.
“They're portraying me as an Islamist and crucifying me in the public square without any evidence.”
Mr Brugere made his claims after the Lissen Institute, a language school that taught Arabic, French and English, was closed down
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