The Qatari subsidiary, of which Vinci is a minority shareholder, is accused of numerous questionable practices vis-à-vis its local workers. These employees with low wages and difficult working conditions participated in particular in the construction of a metro.
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Two weeks before the start of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the French construction giant Vinci is caught up in accusations of modern slavery. A Qatari subsidiary of Vinci Construction Grands Projets (VCGP) is summoned on Wednesday November 9 by an investigating judge from Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) with a view to a possible indictment, franceinfo learned this Sunday from a source close to the file confirming information from the newspaper Le Parisien/Today in France.
The Qatari subsidiary, Qatari Diar Vinci Construction (QDVC), of which Vinci is a minority shareholder, is accused of numerous dubious practices vis-à-vis its local workers. Incomprehensible contracts, too low wages and very difficult working conditions are, for example, noted. Its employees worked in particular on the construction of a metro with a view to the 2022 World Cup.
In a press release on Monday, Vinci said he regretted that “its subsidiary is the subject of an indictment”, anticipating a decision that belongs to the judge on Wednesday. The French company says it refute the accusations, in particular of “forced labor” and “trafficking in human beings.
The investigation into this case began seven years ago, in 2015, after a complaint from the NGO Sherpa which fights against economic crimes. After three years of investigation, the Nanterre prosecutor had closed the case without further action but Sherpa filed a new complaint with an investigating judge.
It was this magistrate from Nanterre who decided to summon the Vinci subsidiary on Wednesday, ten days before the kick-off of the Football World Cup. Which makes the lawyer for the Qatari company cringe. Contacted by franceinfo, master Jean-Pierre Versini-Campinchi denounces a case that exists only for “to buzz”.
Vinci Construction France was already indicted in February for “private corruption” in an instruction which targets the former wealth manager in France of the former emir of Qatar. Its subsidiaries Petit and GTM Bâtiment have also been indicted for “private corruption”. Vinci Construction France and Petit are also concerned for “complicity in forgery and use of forgery in private writing”.