France: several investigations into the role of consulting firms in the 2017 and 2022 elections
French President Emmanuel Macron, at the Louvre Museum in Paris on November 22, 2022. REUTERS - SARAH MEYSSONNIER
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The French National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) commented on information from the newspaper
Le Parisien
, this Thursday, November 24.
Two judicial inquiries were opened at the end of October, he said, one "on the conditions of intervention of consulting firms in the electoral campaigns of 2017 and 2022", the other on suspicions of "favoritism" in this file.
It is Emmanuel Macron that is in question.
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After the preliminary investigation opened on March 31, 2022, "
on the count of aggravated money laundering and aggravated tax evasion targeting the McKinsey group
", the financial public prosecutor Jean-François Bohnert announces the opening of two judicial inquiries, on 20 and 21 October, in this file.
The first relates "
to the conditions of intervention of consulting firms in the 2017 and 2022 election campaigns
", and more specifically to heads, in particular, of "
non-compliant keeping of campaign accounts and reduction of accounting elements in a campaign account
.
The second information relates to suspicions of “
favouritism
” and “
concealment of favouritism
” concerning them;
it results from several complaints filed by associations and elected officials, specifies the financial public prosecutor in a press release published on the PNF's Twitter account.
The National Financial Prosecutor's Office publishes a press release on criminal proceedings opened following the publication of the Senate report on the use of consulting firms.
https://t.co/c2PNjh54LB pic.twitter.com/JffRfYGpFK
– National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) (@pr_financier) November 24, 2022
During the last presidential election, on March 16, a Senate report had sparked heated controversy by looking at the use of public funds in terms of consulting firms.
The opposition had called for an investigation into possible favoritism of the Macronist majority for the benefit of McKinsey.
►
See also France: the Senate denounces excessive use of consulting firms by the State
It was following an article in the daily
Le Parisien
, entitled "
McKinsey affair: Emmanuel Macron targeted by an investigation for illegal campaign financing
", that the PNF published its press release on Thursday to "
clarify the situation of various procedures criminal proceedings
” initiated after the Senate report.
🔵 INFO THE PARISIAN |
A judicial investigation opened for "illegal financing" of Emmanuel Macron's campaign in 2017
In the background: relations between macronie and the McKinsey cabinet and the conditions for awarding public contracts
➡️ https://t.co/ B1TnSspmfx pic.twitter.com/wa3UJIM0uL
– The Parisian (@le_Parisian) November 24, 2022
In its report of March 16, the Senate commission of inquiry into the influence of private consulting firms on public policies, under the impetus of the majority communist CRCE group, assured that the contracts between the State and several firms had "
more than doubled
" between 2018 and 2021.
►Read again: McKinsey controversy
: the French government demines in the middle of the presidential campaign
In sight: the McKinsey group.
According to the Mediapart news site, some members of this American consulting firm may have worked for free during Emmanuel Macron's victorious campaign in 2017, in addition to a possible tax arrangement for French McKinsey entities.
The Senate report was indeed concerned that the firm may, in addition, not have paid any tax in France between the years 2011 and 2020. The preliminary investigation of March 31 in addition gave rise to a search at the French headquarters of McKinsey on May 24.
►To re-read: France: search of the French premises of the private firm McKinsey
For the time being, the Presidency of the Republic declined to comment on Thursday.
With agencies
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