The mayor of Paris, Anne Indalgo, has been targeted as she is accused of using more than 12,000 euros of state money to buy brand name dresses after trying to hide her spending.

The 66-year-old, who has been mayor of Paris since 2014, is alleged to have misused taxpayers’ money, after details were revealed of her lavish spending while in office.

The revelations come after a publication by French anti-corruption organisation Mediapart, which in an article titled “Expense reports: Ann Idalgo is still angry about transparency” refers to some of the mayor’s luxury spending, such as the fact that in November 2023 she spent 3.067, 50 euros on a Burberry coat and in March 2024 she made a 2,300-euro purchase at Dior.

In fact, the organization – having collected the mayor’s expenses following a Freedom of Access to Information request from Civic Transparency, an anti-corruption group – says that Idalgo spent some €84,265 on clothes and travel expenses, which she then asked to be reimbursed by the state.

However, Mediart reports that she refused to provide transparency regarding her spending and when finally questioned about her expenses, the 66-year-old defended her behavior by claiming that the purchases were legitimate – given her role, which requires frequent travel and representing Paris at official events.

“For the third time since 2014, the mayor of Paris refused to hand over her travel, meals and entertainment expenses. An association has managed to recover some of these expenses through the courts. But only part of it,” Mediapart said in its report.

It’s worth noting that Idalgo is in a legal battle with Mediapart, as the organization revealed a number of her receipts to X.

The publication provoked reactions from her political opponents.

Typically, Paul Attte, deputy leader of the council’s centre-right opposition, said in an op-ed in X the following: “No businessman has the right to declare his clothes as business expenses. We have been paying for years for the luxury in which the mayor indulges. This is no longer democracy. It is a principality.”

 This is not the first time the mayor, who was theSocialist Party candidate in the 2022 presidential election, has been criticized for using public funds for private spending.

Another anti-corruption group filed a criminal complaint against Idalgo last year after she was accused of misusing taxpayers’ money, prompting police to raid her offices.

In addition, in late 2023, Idalgo was accused of spending nearly 60,000 euros to go to Tahiti for a business trip, which she then extended for two weeks to take a vacation.