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In 1998, the three largest construction groups in France - Bouygues, Suez-Lyonnaise, and Vivendi - were the subject of a major investigation by two judges, for a scandal which Le Monde (10 Dec 1998) described as "an agreed system for misappropriation of public funds".

The companies participated in a corrupt cartel over building work for schools in the Ile-de-France region (around Paris) between 1989 and 1996. Contracts worth FF 28 billion (about $500m) were shared out by the three groups,

The system also involved political corruption: a levy of 2% on all contracts was paid to finance the major political parties in the region (RPR, PR, PS, PC).

Jacques Durand, commercial director of GTM - was indicted on 22 October for corruption, bribery, favouritism, and anti-competitive practices ("corruption, trafic d'influence, recel de favoritisme et pratiquesanticoncurrentielles").