2023-08-16 13:54:58
Two subsidiaries of the building and public works group Fayat, targeted by a preliminary investigation for tax evasion, were searched in early July, announced the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) on Wednesday August 16, confirming information from Mediapart.
It was the public works subsidiaries Razel-Bec – which is participating in particular in the Greater Paris project – and FCAI purchasing, based in Saclay in Essonne, which were searched, as part of an investigation opened on February 3, 2022 for laundering of aggravated tax evasion. The Fayat group did not respond to requests from Agence France-Presse.
The two subsidiaries are suspected of having participated in an illegal tax scheme, in connection with Mauritius. This alleged arrangement is based on the artificial transfer of part of the profits from the purchase of heavy equipment intended for construction sites in Africa, to the Mauritian company Trade and Technical Services (TTS), in order to benefit from lower taxes than in France, while TTS would be an empty shell.
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According to Mediapart, more than 800,000 euros in taxes were evaded – an amount not confirmed by the PNF. Based in Bordeaux, the Fayat group, specialist in road equipment, claims the place of “first independent French construction group”behind the giants Bouygues, Vinci and Eiffage.
Less known to the general public than the latter, Fayat is nonetheless associated with prestigious constructions such as the Opéra Bastille or the Musée d’Orsay. It weighs 5.3 billion euros in turnover, 37% of which is generated abroad, and employs nearly 23,000 people in 228 subsidiaries around the world. Its founder, Clément Fayat, who handed over control of the group to his sons in 2013, died in July 2022.
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