The investigation comes after a TV report from the channel M6 that was broadcast on Friday, with hidden footage of two luxury restaurants with mask-free guests.
In the video, a secret journalist enters a private eatery with closed shutters and is greeted by a waiter wearing white gloves. She is asked on whose behalf she has been invited and says to her, “Once you are through the door, there is no more Covid.”
The model is heard explaining that the menu starts at 160 euros ($ 190) per person. For 490 euros ($ 580), eaters can sip champagne while feasting on foie gras with truffle and langoustine in a ginger sauce.
“We are investigating possible charges of intimidation and black labor,” a spokesman for the Paris prosecutor told CNN. “We will check whether the events were organized in violation of sanitary rules and determine who the potential organizers and participants were.”
A further ‘limited exclusion’ came into effect last week as President Emmanuel Macron warned that the country was at risk of ‘losing control’ over the pandemic.
The video further shows a dinner being held in lush surroundings with large tapestries and gilded paintings. The guests are seen giving each other ‘la bise’ and kissing each other cheek to cheek.
The organizer apparently claims: “This week I ate at two or three restaurants, so-called clandestine restaurants, with a certain number of ministers.”
Due to the recognizable décor, the restaurant was later identified as Palais Vivienne owned by Pierre-Jean Chalençon.
Chalençon’s lawyer issued a statement on Sunday acknowledging that the distorted voice on the video belonged to his client, but that he was joking when he said government ministers were attending dinners.
The scandal has drawn the attention of many online, with the hashtag #OnVeutLesNoms (We Want The Names) tending to Twitter on Monday.
Government spokesman Gabriel Attal told the LCI news channel on Sunday that authorities had been investigating reports of illegal parties for months and that 200 suspects had been identified so far. “They will be severely punished,” Attal added.