The judges’ investigations also relate to suspicions of “favoritism” and “concealment of favouritism”, following “intervention of consulting firms”.
The Élysée first took refuge in silence. “No comment“, was evacuated at first in the entourage ofEmmanuel MacronThursday afternoon, shortly after the revelations of the Parisian . Before consenting to the formula which is necessary in such circumstances:It is up to the courts to conduct these investigations independently“. “McKinsey has no information on the elements published by the press today.“, we abounded within the company.
In a press release published in the process, the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) nevertheless confirmed the opening of two judicial inquiries, on October 20 and 21, relating to the “McKinsey affair” and, more generally, to “the conditions of intervention of consulting firms in electoral campaigns from 2017 and 2022“.
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“Following several reports and complaints from elected officials and individuals“, as well as referrals “unions” and “associations“, investigations are therefore currently focused on a presumed “improper keeping of campaign accounts» and suspicions of «reduction of accounting elements in a campaign account“. Finally, the PNF’s investigations also relate to “Counts of Favoritism and Concealment of Favoritism“.
Although he is not mentioned by name in the text of the financial public prosecutor, Jean-François Bohnert, the only political leader to have been publicly incriminated in this case so far is Emmanuel Macron. Who, in view of the total and absolute immunity conferred on him by his status as president, cannot in any case be heard in any procedure whatsoever, for the entire duration of his mandate.
SEE ALSO – McKinsey case: the PNF expands its investigations to the 2017 and 2022 campaign accounts
“A better use of money and public officials”
“Having had to manage the accounts of the party during the many years that I spent within the management, I can tell you that I am very calm“, told a close friend of the head of state, discovering the subject in the press. “Yes, it is possible that people from McKinseygave 7,500 euros, but French law is such that they have every right to do so as individuals“, we add from the same source. And to conclude:The president wants us to move quickly on a better use of money and public officials, precisely so as not to abandon the subject to those who want to create foam around the fantasies that McKinsey arouses“.
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In mid-October, the Senate adopted a bill requiring the government to publish, each year, a document annexed to the budget which identifies “consultancy services ordered by beneficiary administrations over the last five years“. Missions carried out “pro bono”, free of charge, have also been prohibited. For its part, the executive announced, at the end of July, that it wanted toprovide a framework largely defined in its principles and amounts “, in particular by establishing a cap on the cost of each mission, established at two million euros. At the same time, the Court of Auditors will also return to “the use by the State of private consulting firmsby the end of 2023.
A subject of political debate
The recent publication by the Senate of a report on the growing use of private consulting firms by the State, and theirinfluence on public policies“, has made these companies a subject of political debate, crystallized during the presidential campaign around the American giant McKinsey. To the point that the PNF opened a preliminary investigation last spring for aggravated laundering of tax evasion. ” This investigation is indeed and only aimed at McKinsey on the question of its tax status in France“, then confirmed the institution to theFigaro. Investigations which would have clearly led her to expand her work, as she has just announced.
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