France's prosecution services specialised in financial crimes have confirmed that a current investigation into potential tax fraud by the US-based consultancy giant McKinsey has been widened to include involvement by consultancy companies in Emmanuel Macron's two successful presidential election campaigns in 2017 and 2022.
A report by French senators recently lambasted Emmanuel Macron's government over its awarding of contracts worth a total of up to 2.4 billion euros to outside consultancy firms, including the French arm of US firm McKinsey & Company. Now Mediapart can reveal how McKinsey pinned its hopes on Macron when he was France's economy minister, well before he announced he was standing for the presidency in 2017. The consultancy firm's strategy included providing services for the minister for free. Sarah Brethes and Antton Rouget spoke to former consultants at McKinsey who revealed the methods used to try to gain influence with the man who went on to become president of France.
Parliamentary inquiry that looked into lucrative contracts with McKinsey, Accenture, BCG and others found that Emmanuel Macron’s government and other public bodies have signed deals worth at least €2.4 billion with consultancy firms since 2018.
