Qatar 2022: preliminary inquiry opened against the Vinci Group after a complaint from Sherpa

A preliminary investigation was opened by the prosecutor of Nanterre (France) against Vinci, following a complaint by the Sherpa Association (French legal association that represents the victims of financial crimes) in March 2015, announced Catherine Denis, the prosecutor of Hauts-de-Seine on 25/04/2015. The association accuses VCGP (Vinci Construction Grands Projets) and the French heads of its Qatari subsidiary (QDVC) of forced labour, reducing to servitude and concealment of migrant workers on their sites in Qatar.

"This is to verify the allegations of the Sherpa Association through a number of hearings in France," said Catherine Denis to AFP. An investigation may be initiated after the summer of 2015 based on the results of the preliminary investigation. The complaint from Sherpa names six executives from the Vinci Group including Yannick Garillon, the CEO of QDVC and Alain Bonnot, the president of Vinci Construction Grands Projets. Vinci filed a complaint for defamation in Paris in mid-April 2015. The group is seeking €300,000 in damages.

"Passports are confiscated by the…