In conjunction with an ongoing investigation, French police searched the headquarters of President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance Party on Wednesday. According to Reuters, the probe focused on the French government's employment of consulting firms since 2017.
The National Financial Prosecutors' Office reportedly searched the offices of consultancy firm McKinsey as well, according to a story in the newspaper Le Parisien.
Both Renaissance and McKinsey said they were co-operating with the inquiries.
"It's normal for the judiciary to investigate freely and independently to shed all the light on this subject," Renaissance spokesman Loic Signor told the AFP news agency.
Since the investigation's inception earlier this year, charges of fake election campaign accounting as well as favouritism and conspiracy have dominated the French political scene. Reporters were also informed by the prosecutor's office that specific businesses have received preferential treatment when it comes to government contracts, with total expenditures exceeding $1.1 billion.
(If you have a story in and around Mumbai, you have our ears, be a citizen journalist and send us your story here. )
(To receive our E-paper on WhatsApp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)