McKinsey & Co.’s Paris offices were raided by police in the latest escalation of a controversy over whether the U.S. consulting firm paid any French corporate taxes in the last decade despite earning millions of euros on government projects.
Prosecutors confirmed that evidence-gathering searches had begun on Tuesday. Last month, financial prosecutors at the Parquet National Financier said they had opened a probe into McKinsey to look into suspicions of laundering of tax-fraud proceeds.
McKinsey said it’s cooperating with authorities and provided all the information required by prosecutors during the raid. The firm added in the statement that it adheres to French tax and social rules.
The scandal also ensnared French President Emmanuel Macron after the Senate released a report over the use of private consultants by his government in March. Far-right rival Marine Le Pen sought to channel outrage over the affair to attack Macron ahead of his re-election last month. Consulting companies had wide-ranging influence over government decisions, the Senate report said, prompting accusations that Macron had wasted taxpayer money and served his own interests in the process.
