Email sent to the F.B.I. Washington Field Office on December 16, 2015. McDonald’s Corporation.

This email was sent to the F.B.I. Washington D.C. Field Office on December 16, 2015 at 15:00 Beijing time.

FROM : [Whistle-blower’s email address] Visit X-v-France.com for more information about me

TO : washington.field@ic.fbi.gov

SUBJECT: McDonald’s massive fraud in Europe

Note: this email has been redacted for readability and privacy.

Dear Sir or Madam,

My name is [FULL NAME OF THE VICTIM, REDACTED FOR PRIVACY] and I am a victim of a fraud, organized on a massive scale in Europe, by McDonald’s Corporation and their executives.

So far, I [filed] a criminal complaint with the Paris prosecutor’s office and with the Metropolitan Police Service (in the UK).

[Important note, added on 2022-04-20: I am currently, as of 2022-04-20, convinced that either the French authorities are/were, overall, dangerously incompetent, and/or that they are/were corrupted. To make a long story short, and to give only one example, McDonald’s France was at some point in time represented by the law firm Péchenard & Associés. This law firm belongs or used to belong to the parents of Frédéric Péchenard. Frédéric Péchenard has served as General Director of the French National Police (which could roughly be considered as the French equivalent of the F.B.I.). The conflict of interest is potentially huge. In addition to that, the Paris prosecutor was, at the time, François Molins. Supposedly, Frédéric Péchenard and François Molins enjoyed a special relationship which helped François Molins get promoted.]

I’ve also filed a complaint on the SEC whistleblower website.

I am accusing McDonald’s of committing fraud on a massive scale in Europe, in total [defiance of] the European legislation and more precisely [of] the European directive 2005/29/CE. [Note added on 2022-04-20: The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC regulates unfair business practices in EU law, as part of European consumer law.]

I also believe a French official has been corrupted in this matter : more precisely, a “huissier de justice” who is in France a French ministerial officer. Without his consent, the fraud could never have taken place. Being a French ministerial officer, I consider there is a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Furthermore, I suspect Gloria Santona, general counsel of McDonald’s, of having possibly committed insider trading : indeed, she was aware about the fact this “game” was illegal in Europe since at least 2013.

[Note added on 2022-04-20: link to Gloria Santona‘s email, CCed to then CEO of McDonald’s Corporation Steve Easterbrook]

I want to say that I can understand you may have cognitive bias in favor of McDonald’s. You are going to think, of course, that they have lawyers etc. I can understand such a point of view, but I would please request you to listen to my legal arguments.

[Note added on 2022-04-20: according to Article II of the Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance, “A strong presumption exists in favor of providing, rather than withholding, assistance and services to victims of crime. Federal statutes define mandatory services and court enforceable rights for federal crime victims that establish a minimum baseline for the Department’s obligation to crime victims. Department personnel are encouraged to provide additional assistance to crime victims where appropriate and within available resources, as situations warrant.” (I emphasize)]

Finally, I want to tell you two things which happened which I believe to be significant, even though these might not be considered proofs in the court of law, these :

In 2012, following my first cease-and-desist letter to McDonalds, a few modifications have been made to their “game” (or should I say a fraud).

In 2013, following my 2nd cease-and-desist letter to McDonalds, in which I warned them I would file a criminal lawsuit against them if they don’t cease their fraud, the 2013 edition was indeed cancelled. Same for 2014. In 2015, they started scamming people again, that’s why I decided to launch websites to warn the potential victims, websites like France-v-McDonalds.org [Note added on 2022-04-20: that website is currently unavailable]. It’s a very modest website with very limited traffic, but i nevertheless got 20 to 30 victims who contacted me and many of them want to [press] criminal charges against McDonalds.

The second important thing which happened was the email I received from Malcolm Hicks, the general counsel for McDonald’s Europe. I am attaching a PDF of his email below. Why does he talk about hiring a 2nd law firm to have a 2nd opinion? First, I really do believe the McDonald’s executives were aware of the fact that McDonald’s Monopoly was illegal in Europe. My 2 cease-and-desist letters in 2012 and 2013 were very clear and pinpointed exactly the laws being violated. However, when I suggested that maybe their lawyers made a mistake, I said so to “give them some face”, to give them “an honorable exit route”. But I do in reality believe that McDonald’s executives are as guilty as their lawyers.

[Inline link added on 2022-04-20: visualize the email Malcolm Hicks sent me on 2015-10-23 at 05:34 Beijing time.]

The legal violations are too simple to understand (once and only once you know the game is rigged) to hide behind a lawyer’s advice and pretend that the lawyer said so. I have a very strong feeling that McDonald’s executives started to hide themselves behind the plausible deniability concept. Why?

Mr Hicks said we would be in touch. Ever since October 23rd 2015, I haven’t been able to reach him. Why does he keep silent since that email?

The fraud is really massive and you must understand some legal concepts to understand the consequences. You can check UK-v-McDonalds.org [Note added on 2022-04-20: that website is currently unavailable] and you will understand that in France for example, you can legally claim the prizes you should have won had the game not been rigged. This can simply mean bankruptcy for the McDonald’s Corporation. And here is another serious violation : what about the investors who are currently investing in McDonald’s stocks? What about the failure to disclose corporate events (like the fact they knew since 2012 that the legality of McDonald’s Monopoly in Europe was being questioned).

Your website says something very interesting and in which I believe in :

https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/white_collar

“It’s not a victimless crime. A single scam can destroy a company, devastate families by wiping out their life savings, or cost investors billions of dollars (or even all three, as in the Enron case).“

I really do believe that the McDonald’s fraud must be investigated. The amounts are just too important to ignore. In 2011, I’ve collected 547 stickers. I can legally claim today over 2,4 million euros (amount I should have won had the game not been rigged). I let you imagine what will happen once this case start getting more attention from the medias. More victims will come forward and ask for compensation.

Please start a criminal investigation against McDonald’s and their executives. I have lots of evidence to support my claims.

Thank you for your time.

Best regards,

[NAME OF THE VICTIM, REDACTED FOR PRIVACY]

PS : I was living in France in 2011 when I fell for the scam However, I am now currently residing in China, here is my address :

[ADDRESS IN CHINA, REDACTED FOR PRIVACY]

[Note: that email was sent to the F.B.I. on December 16, 2015, at 15:00 Beijing time]

Most of my communications sent to the F.B.I. can be consulted at:
https://www.Federal-Bureau-of-Investigation.com/open-letters/

To gain a clearer understanding of the sequence of events in this case, I invite you to view a detailed timeline at the following link:
https://www.ECTHRwatch.org/timeline/mcdonalds/
This timeline provides a comprehensive overview of the key milestones and developments.