A Pakistani network which would have laundered several million euros resulting from the work hidden in the construction industry, dismantled

A Pakistani, bridgehead of the network, directed several companies with real activity in the cleaning and the building while having recourse to companies known as "taxi", that is to say fictitious and only intended to transit funds.

"It transferred the funds via false subcontracting invoices to pay workers' salaries in cash without any contribution being paid and thus lower its costs and remain competitive with its customers, in particular Veolia and Engie", detailed to AFP Commissioner Julien Bataille, Deputy Head of the Central Office for the Suppression of Major Financial Crime (OCRGDF).

Funds were also transferred to accounts in different European countries, such as Spain, Italy, Portugal, Poland or Lithuania.

The investigation started in September following a report from a manager of a consulting company specializing in administrative procedures to create businesses, based in Seine-Saint-Denis.

"He had been approached on several occasions by an individual of Pakistani origin to register various companies and open associated bank accounts," said the commissioner. "This witness noticed that the identity photos of future managers were recycled and corresponded to Italian, Spanish or Belgian nationals, already presented under other names," he continues.

The investigations, entrusted in October to an investigating judge of the Specialized Interregional Jurisdiction (Jirs) of Paris, made it possible to identify 37 bogus companies in Hauts-de-France, Occitanie, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Île-de-France. -of France.

85 professional bank accounts and 107 private accounts, attributed to employees, were opened by straw managers with false papers, from the Pakistani community and paid 1.000 euros per month on average.

Between 2020 and 2021, the head of the network estimated during his hearing to have laundered 500.000 euros with only six of these shadow companies.

"We can therefore assume that out of the 37 bogus companies, the laundering involved several million euros", according to the commissioner of the OCRGDF.

On December 15, the head of the organization was remanded in custody and three of his associates or accomplices under judicial supervision.

All four are indicted for aggravated money laundering, and three for criminal conspiracy, according to a judicial source.

In total, 335.000 euros in cash or in bank accounts were also seized and accounts opened abroad will be frozen.