
French President Emmanuel Macron is under investigation on charges of favoritism and illegal financing of the 2017 election campaign by the National Financial Prosecutor (PNF).
The news has been published in the French newspaper Le Parisien and refers to the investigations related to the links between Emmanuel Macron and the consulting firm McKinsey.
According to reports from Le Parisien, the investigation concerns links between Macron and private consulting firms external to the public administration.
Le Parisien talks about suspected illegal financing in the presidential campaigns that took him to the Elysee in 2017 and 2022, as well as the awarding of several public contracts.
In a note, the French National Financial Prosecutor's Office never mentioned Macron by name, but announced that it opened two court files in late October regarding "the conditions of the intervention of consulting offices in the French electoral campaigns of 2017 and 2022 and related suspicions of "favoritism". The note was published by the offices of the public prosecutor, Jean-François Bohnert.
During the 2022 presidential campaign, criticism against Macron had multiplied, especially in relation to the contracts concluded in the last five years between the state and private consulting firms such as the American McKinsey. On March 17, the Senate revealed that state procurement of this type of private consulting firm "more than doubled" between 2018 and 2021, reaching a record of more than $1 billion in 2021. McKinsey was the most sought-after private consulting firm by the French authorities during the pandemic.
The senators' report has sparked fierce criticism of the use of public funds, and the opposition has demanded an investigation into any favoritism towards US multinationals. reaching a record of over one billion euros in 2021. McKinsey was the private consulting firm most wanted by the French authorities during the pandemic.
The senators' report has sparked harsh criticism of the use of public funds, and the opposition has demanded an investigation into any favoritism toward the American company.
In relation to the investigation of a consulting firm in which President Macron is suspected to be involved, the Elysee has declared that "justice must investigate in complete independence".