The investigation conducted for more than ten years into suspicions, in particular, of tax fraud laundering within the Mulliez “galaxy” (Auchan, Leroy Merlin or Décathlon), has finally led to a general abandonment of criminal prosecutions for companies and the managers involved.
“After ten years of investigations”, the judicial investigation conducted by a Paris investigating judge “did not allow us to characterize either the acts of breach of trust or the acts of money laundering and tax fraud attributed to the Mulliez group companies and their managers”, AFP learned from a judicial source on Tuesday, confirming a source close to the case.
The investigating judge issued his dismissal order on August 14. The civil party appealed.
Matt structure
The investigation delved into the financial structures of the “galaxy” of Mulliez companies, not listed on the stock exchange, with a complex and opaque structure, regulated by an agreement: it mixes civil companies owned by the family and holding companies that manage the brands.
Only descendants of the original Mulliez couple, Louis and Marguerite, as well as their spouses, commonly known as “value-adds,” are allowed to own shares.
All of them belong to the Association of the Mulliez Family (AFM), an economic interest group which today has several hundred members based in Roubaix and created in 1955.
But in 2012, a former member of the family, Hervé Dubly, denounced in a first complaint in Lille “very high loans, without documentation and without interest granted” by the group’s structures “to foreign companies (several hundred million) and to private individuals” through personal or family civil societies (several million),” a judicial source said in May.
The complainant considered these opaque loans without any apparent justification to constitute a breach of trust, in particular as they would not respect equality between partners.
According to the judicial source, this agreement could also have “allowed a reduction in taxes in France (allowing for example to benefit from dividends abroad)”.
Research in 2016
The investigation resulted in searches reported in the press in 2016 in France, Belgium and Luxembourg, but also in the Netherlands in 2019.
Several indictments had been issued: Jérôme and Thierry Mulliez in 2019, as well as an executive of a Dutch company linked to the group in 2020 for breach of trust and tax fraud laundering and, in January 2023, three financial structures for aggravation of money laundering and aggravated tax fraud.
A member of the Mulliez family was placed under intermediate assisted witness status in 2019
At the end of the proceedings, with regards to the breach of trust aspect, the investigating judge found that “the investigations made it possible to conclude that there was no intention to harm this or that collaborator”.
It also relied on “recent jurisprudence of the State Council, known as Manitou”, dated 18 July 2023, to exclude tax fraud laundering.
According to the judicial source, “it follows from this jurisprudence that any adjustments by companies taxed in France would most likely be significantly reduced, or even” would not “give rise to any increase in taxes”.
More than 130 brands
The National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) had not yet formulated a definitive indictment, so much so that the position of the Directorate of National and International Audits (DVNI), the tribunalists, “is not yet definitive”.
“Partial information was leaked to the press in clear violation of the secrecy of the investigation and damaged the honor of the natural and legal persons involved”, the AFM reacted to AFP, recalling that it “remained confident in the outcome of a rigorous legal process.” .”
When contacted, several defense lawyers either declined to speak or did not respond immediately.
The AFM brings together almost 900 cousins, at the head of 130 brands, including Auchan, but also Decathlon, Leroy-Merlin, Saint-Maclou, Jules, Kiabi, Pizza Paï and Electro Dépôt.
The annual turnover of their companies, which also includes Flunch, Weldom and Boulanger, reaches 100 billion euros, providing 650,000 jobs worldwide.
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