Belgium seizes 65.2 million euros in French McKinsey tax fraud probe

What happened

Belgium’s Brussels Prosecutor’s Office has seized 65.2 million euros, reported as roughly 76 million dollars, in connection with a French investigation into suspected tax fraud and money laundering involving McKinsey. Investing.com reported the seizure on September 4, 2026, citing Reuters. Bloomberg and MLex corroborated the figure and the date independently.

The case traces back to March 2022, when France’s National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) opened its investigation. That step followed a French Senate inquiry examining the growing role of private consulting firms in shaping public policy. French investigators searched McKinsey’s Paris offices in May 2022. Witnesses and suspects have been questioned through 2025 and into 2026.

The 65.2 million euros seized in Belgium equals approximately 96 percent of the tax loss French prosecutors have estimated. The alleged violations are tax fraud and money laundering. No court has made a finding of wrongdoing. This remains an ongoing investigation and asset seizure, not a conviction.

McKinsey responded with a statement reaffirming its commitment to complying with tax obligations “in France and in every country that we operate in.” The firm said it is cooperating with French authorities, denies wrongdoing, and remains focused on serving its clients in France.

Why it matters

This case shows how a French tax investigation can trigger an asset freeze executed by prosecutors in Belgium, without waiting for a trial verdict. The near total seizure of the estimated tax loss, at 96 percent, suggests that Belgian and French authorities coordinated closely on valuation and enforcement before acting. That level of coordination is itself a signal to compliance teams: cross-border asset recovery in tax and money laundering cases is operational now, not theoretical.

The consulting sector faces distinct exposure here. McKinsey’s advisory work for the French government drew scrutiny through a Senate inquiry, a reminder that public sector consulting contracts carry money laundering and tax structuring risk that firms often treat as a client compliance issue only. This investigation, still years from resolution, suggests otherwise.

Practitioner angle

Financial crime teams inside professional services and consulting firms should treat this as a case study in cross-border asset seizure exposure, not as a McKinsey-specific event.

• Review how your firm structures fees and payment flows for public sector advisory contracts across EU jurisdictions, since these structures are what tax and money laundering investigators examine first.
• Confirm your firm’s beneficial ownership and intercompany transfer pricing documentation would withstand a Senate style parliamentary inquiry, not just a tax audit.
• Brief anti-money laundering (AML) and compliance leadership that a seizure of this scale, executed in a second jurisdiction ahead of any conviction, shows prosecutors can move on estimated tax loss figures alone.
• Track the case’s progress in the months ahead, since witness and suspect questioning is ongoing and further seizures or charges remain possible.

The single most important action: audit your own firm’s cross-border public sector engagement structures now, before a similar inquiry forces the review under pressure.