French financial prosecutor widens McKinsey probe to election financing

Its statement followed a report by Le Parisien which said the PNF had opened an investigation into the financing of President Emmanuel Macron's first election campaign and the conditions under which large public contracts had been awarded to McKinsey. Macron's office declined to comment on Le Parisien's story and on the prosecutor's statement.

France's financial prosecutor's office on Thursday said it had widened an existing probe into alleged tax fraud by consultancy group McKinsey's to include the role of consultancy groups in the 2017 and 2022 election races and alleged "favouritism".

The financial prosecutor (PNF) did not say whose campaigns it was looking into. Its statement followed a report by

Le Parisien which said the PNF had opened an investigation into the financing of President Emmanuel Macron's first election campaign and the conditions under which large public contracts had been awarded to McKinsey.

Macron's office declined to comment on Le Parisien's story and on the prosecutor's statement. If confirmed that the probe targets his campaign, it would be the closest a judicial investigation has come to Macron, who swept to power promising to clean up politics in France.

Presidents in France enjoy immunity while in office. The financial prosecutor said the extended investigation had been opened in late October into allegations of improperly keeping campaign accounts and the conditions under which consulting firms had intervened in the two election campaigns.

A McKinsey spokesperson acknowledged a request for comment sent by SMS but did not comment. Phone calls to the consultancy's head office in Paris went unanswered. The use of private consultants by Macron's government exploded as an unexpected issue ahead of this spring's presidential election, at which Macron won a second term.

The opposition had accused Macron's government of spending too much on international consultancies that pay little or no tax in France. That initial investigation into the U.S. management consultancy was triggered after the French Senate in March alleged that the firm was not paying corporate taxes in France.

McKinsey has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

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