Morgan Stanley and several European banks risk being drawn into a French criminal investigation over the 2022 sale of Vincent Bolloré’s African transport and logistics business, as an anti-corruption association seeks to compel them to hand over internal documents related to the €5.7-billion transaction, according to a new report by Bloomberg. 

The Collectif Restitution pour l’Afrique, known as RAF, asked a Paris judge last week to order Morgan Stanley’s French operations to produce internal documents related to the U.S. bank’s role in the sale of Bolloré SE’s African logistics unit to MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co., the news agency said. RAF is also considering filing a criminal complaint against Morgan Stanley under French law. 

French financial prosecutors are investigating Bolloré and his eponymous company, Bolloré SE, to determine whether lucrative contracts to manage port concessions in five African nations were obtained through bribery. If so, the sale Bolloré Africa Logistics to MSC would potentially be in violation of French money-laundering laws and the company liable in part for confiscation, according to the report. 

RAF specifically wants to examine how a 2021 bribery settlement by Bolloré SE was factored into Morgan Stanley’s valuation of the asset, as well as the bank’s engagement letter and fee structure. RAF argued in court submissions that the documents are needed to determine whether Morgan Stanley conducted adequate due diligence on what it characterized as a high-risk transaction, or merely lent credibility to the deal, Bloomberg said. 

RAF is also suing private bank Hottinguer, which advised on the sale, and is pursuing HSBC Holdings, Société Générale, and entities of Crédit Mutuel over their longstanding roles as commercial banks for the Bolloré group. The group is seeking documents showing how those banks rated Bolloré SE as a client and how that assessment evolved after Bolloré was personally charged in 2018 and following the company’s settlement three years later, the report said. 

RAF contends that the Togo and Guinea port concessions at the center of the underlying case generated approximately €130 million in profits between 2015 and 2022, and that the commercial banks must have handled both the operating revenues from those concessions and proceeds from the €5.7 billion divestment. The association argued in court filings that the banks may have facilitated the investment, concealment, or conversion of profits derived from criminal activity, according to Bloomberg.

Bolloré separately faces a Paris bribery trial linked to a port contract in Togo, stemming from a criminal case in which he was first charged in 2018, Bloomberg reported. The case centers on container terminal contracts in Togo signed after a Bolloré-controlled communications firm allegedly provided discounted campaign services that helped facilitate the election of President Faure Gnassingbé.