00:03A luxury villa in Sicily, a 50 million euro price tag and a prominent French politician.
00:09This story has been circulating online about France's former prime minister and 2027 presidential
00:16candidate Edouard Philippe. It claims that Philippe bought a villa in Sicily in 2023
00:21from French local councillor Stéphanie de Besleur and raised questions about how the
00:27alleged purchase was financed. The story was initially shared by a mock-up Italian online
00:32newspaper called Repubblica.com, which has now been taken down. The domain, however,
00:38sounded very similar to the genuine news outlet Repubblica.it, in other words, a fake website
00:45designed to be easily mistaken for the real one. The video also cites an article by Affari
00:52Italiani, which says indeed that Philippe is being investigated. However, this has been
00:57taken out of context, as the investigation doesn't mention a house in Sicily. Repubblica did not
01:04publish the story and no credible source confirms that Philippe bought a 50 million euro Sicilian
01:10villa. But, as often happens with fake stories, the names involved were not picked at random.
01:17Philippe and De Besleur are involved in a real but completely separate investigation in France
01:23concerning the management of a multi-million euro digital development project in Le Havre.
01:29The investigation includes allegations of favoritism and misuse of public funds. However,
01:35Philippe has denied any wrongdoing and the investigation is still ongoing.
