PARIS, April 2 (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs told its Paris employees they could work remotely on Thursday after an attempted bomb attack on Bank of America’s Paris offices on Saturday, while Citigroup staff in Paris and Frankfurt were also working remotely, a person familiar with the matter said.
French authorities have held four suspects in pretrial detention over the plot, which may have links to Iran.
The Paris police force did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment, while the Paris prosecutor’s office declined to comment.
Citigroup said in an emailed statement to Reuters that this was a precautionary measure.
Four suspects – three 16- and 17-year-olds and one adult – are under formal investigation on suspicion of making, transporting and handling explosive devices and attempting to destroy property as part of a terrorist group, France’s counter-terrorism prosecutor said late Wednesday.
The counter-terrorism prosecutor’s office said late Wednesday that the device, a 5-liter gasoline can taped to a large pyrotechnic charge containing a 650-gram active material cylinder, was the most powerful device of its kind ever discovered in France and could produce “a powerful fireball several meters in diameter.”
Investigators found that the adult recruited teenagers and paid them between 500 and 1,000 euros ($580-$1,160) to plant and film the device. All four deny terrorist intent.
France suspects the attack was linked to the pro-Iran group HAYI, which released a video on March 23 specifically naming Bank of America’s Paris headquarters, although prosecutors said the link had not yet been formally established.
(Reporting by Anosha Sakoui and Mathieu Rosemain. Editing by Inti Landauro and Jane Merriman)
