Édouard Philippe targeted by fake Sicilian villa scandal

A disinformation campaign targeting French presidential candidate and Le Havre Mayor Édouard Philippe has circulated online, falsely claiming he purchased a €15 million luxury villa in Sicily. The hoax was spread via a video on X using a fraudulent website, ‘Repupplica.com’, which was designed to mimic the legitimate Italian news outlet Repubblica.

The fake story attempted to link the non-existent villa purchase to a real, ongoing investigation in France involving Philippe and local councillor Stéphanie de Bazelaire. While Philippe and de Bazelaire are under investigation regarding the management of a digital development project in Le Havre, the probe involves allegations of favoritism and misuse of public funds and contains no mention of Sicilian property.

This incident follows a pattern of targeted misinformation against Philippe and other candidates, such as Raphaël Glucksmann and Gabriel Attal. French authorities have previously linked similar disinformation operations to pro-Russian networks, and prosecutors are currently examining suspected foreign interference in the electoral process.