The Urba affair was an incident of political corruption

Political corruption

Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...

 in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 pertaining to skimming receipts from public works for use for party campaigning during the 1970s and 1980s. The Urba consultancy was established in 1971 by the Socialist Party

Socialist Party (France)

The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...

 to advise Socialist-led communes

Communes of France

The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 on infrastructure projects and public works, which the party advocated the modernisation of.

The affair became public in 1989 when two police officers, Antoine Gaudino and Alain Mayot, investigating the Marseille

Marseille

Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...

 regional office of Urba discovered detailed minutes of the organisation's contracts and financial dealings between the party and elected officials. Although the minutes proved a direct link between Urba and graft activity, an edict from the office of French President François Mitterrand

François Mitterrand

François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...

, himself listed as a recipient, prevented further investigation. The Mitterrand election campaign of 1988 was directed by Henri Nallet

Henri Nallet

Henri Nallet is a French politician. He is a member of the Socialist Party.He was twice Minister of Agriculture between 1985 and 1986, and between 1988 and 1990. He also was the Minister of Justice between 1990 and 1992.-References:...

, who then became Justice Minister

Minister of Justice (France)

The Ministry of Justice is controlled by the French Minister of Justice , a top-level cabinet position in the French government. The current Minister of Justice is Michel Mercier...

. In 1990 Mitterrand declared an amnesty for those under investigation, thus ending the affair.

Antoine Gaudino later wrote about his findings in a book, L'Enquête Impossible. Socialist Party treasurer Henri Emmanuelli

Henri Emmanuelli

Henri Emmanuelli is a French politician.A member of the Socialist Party , he has been deputy for Landes from 1978 to 1981, from 1986 to 1997 and since 2000.-Biography:...

was tried in 1997 for corruption offences, for which he received a two year suspended sentence. The company itself was subsequently liquidated.