The Altrad group, a construction giant employing 65,000 people, is suspected of having orchestrated an international tax fraud system, according to the national financial prosecutor’s office.
A preliminary investigation for tax fraud is targeting the Altrad group, specializing in the production and distribution of building materials, the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) declared to Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Monday June 22. The criminal investigation, underway since a complaint from the tax administration in mid-April, is open for the offenses of aggravated tax fraud and laundering of aggravated tax fraud by an organized gang, said the PNF.
Searches were carried out “in various places in France”, including the group’s headquarters in Montpellier, mobilizing “around fifty investigators”, according to the same source. “Hearings took place for natural persons under the free hearing regime. There was therefore no police custody,” added the PNF.
According to an internal source at the group, who requested anonymity, the suspicions relate to a system of tax fraud with an annual amount of “between 23 and 86 million euros per year over the period 2018-2024, or a total amount of between 350 and 400 million euros”. The arrangement would have consisted of taking these sums out of the group’s margin, by leveraging the numerous international subsidiaries via a “hub” based in Dubai. This information is not confirmed, at this stage, by the PNF.
Reaction from the Altrad group
Altrad’s lawyer confirms that the industrial group “was the subject of a search”. It “was linked to an old dispute with the tax administration. It took place calmly in a spirit of cooperation”, Christophe Ingrain told AFP, adding that the company “will not make any additional comments”.
Altrad, a specialist in services to the construction industry, achieved a turnover of around 6 billion euros in 2025, and employs 65,000 people. At the head of the group is Mohed Altrad, also boss of the Montpellier rugby club (MHR) which will face Stade Toulouse in the Top 14 final on Saturday.
In December 2022, Mohed Altrad was found guilty by the Paris criminal court of having entered into a corruption pact with the former boss of the French Rugby Federation, Bernard Laporte. He received an 18-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 50,000 euros. Both are due to be retried on appeal in September.
