These searches were conducted by the investigating judges as part of two judicial inquiries opened in October.
By ThePoint.fr (with AFP)
© CHRISTOPHE SIMON / POOL / AFP
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PFor McKinsey, this is the second search in less than seven months. According to information from Parisian, confirmed by Agence France Presse, the gendarmes of the Paris research section searched the Parisian premises of the consulting firm on Tuesday, December 13 in the morning. The same day, a search took place at the headquarters of the Renaissance party and that of the party’s financing association.
These three procedures, carried out on the rogatory commission of three investigating judges from the Paris financial center, take place in two judicial inquiries opened at the end of October on Emmanuel Macron’s campaign accounts and on suspicion of favoritism.
More specifically, the purpose of this judicial information is to determine whether members of the consulting firm McKinsey worked in the presidential campaigns of Emmanuel Macron in an undeclared manner in return for favoritism in the awarding of public contracts.
Renaissance and McKinsey confirm the searches
The leadership of the Renaissance party confirmed to the Parisian the holding of a search of its premises, while specifying that it had taken place “on the campaign part” of the premises, and not “in the cabinet of the Renaissance party”. “It is normal for the judiciary to investigate freely and independently to shed light on this issue,” added the leadership of Emmanuel Macron’s party, specifying that the party was at the disposal of the judges “to communicate to them any element useful on the campaigns mentioned in the context of their investigations”.
The McKinsey firm also confirmed the search, saying it was ready to “cooperate fully with the public authorities, as has always been the case”.
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During the last presidential campaign, a Senate report had sparked heated controversy over the use of public funds for the benefit of these firms and the opposition had called for an investigation into the possible favoritism which McKinsey would have benefited from the part of the majority. macronist.
The report also pointed to a possible tax arrangement of the French entities of McKinsey which would have allowed them to pay no corporate tax between 2011 and 2020.
On March 31, the PNF had opened a preliminary investigation for aggravated money laundering of aggravated tax evasion to verify the merits of these latest accusations. As part of this investigation, a search had already been carried out at the French headquarters of the firm on May 24, 2022.