Designer Mehmood Bhatti was sentenced for tax fraud: two years suspended prison, a €150,000 fine, and a ten-year ban from managing companies. Three watches and three Jaguars were confiscated from him. Meanwhile, Emmanuel Moulin, Macron's former chief of staff, secured the votes to become the new governor of the Bank of France, reinforcing government control over monetary policy.
The tax technology that didn't catch the Jaguars 🕵️
The investigation against Bhatti used financial analysis tools and cross-referencing of bank data to track undeclared income. Artificial intelligence and blockchain systems are being adopted by tax agencies to identify evasion patterns. However, these same systems do not prevent a close collaborator of the president from assuming a key position in the central bank, suggesting that algorithms still do not filter out political influences.
From the runway to the bank: fashion and money laundering 💰
Bhatti lost his Jaguars, but Moulin won a central bank. Perhaps the designer should have sold watches instead of fashion, or better yet, run for governor: apparently, there, frauds are rewarded with parliamentary votes. At least the confiscated Jaguars could serve as official vehicles for the new directors of the Bank of France.