French authorities raid banks in massive tax fraud case

Paris (AFP), 28 March, 2023 – 
French authorities raided five banks on Tuesday as part of an investigation into suspected cases of massive tax fraud and money laundering, prosecutors said.

Some 150 investigators conducted searches in Paris and the financial district La Defense, the financial prosecutor’s office (PNF) said in a statement.

The raids follow five preliminary investigations that were opened in December 2021 in connection with suspected money laundering and aggravated suspected tax fraud related to dividend payments, the statement said. The operation “required several months of preparation”, the statement said, and involved 16 investigating magistrates and more than 150 financial investigators.

Prosecutors from Germany, where similar tax frauds came to light in recent years, were also involved in the raids, the statement added.

A spokesman for Societe Generale confirmed to AFP that the French bank was being searched by authorities, but he said he did not know the reason.

French rival BNP Paribas and its Exane unit, financial group Natixis and British banking giant HSBC are the other targets of the raids, according to Le Monde newspaper.