2023-12-14 16:17:54
By Le Figaro with AFP
Published 9 hours ago, Updated 24 minutes ago
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“An actress of undeniable talent, she is no less a taxpayer,” declared the president of the criminal court. His lawyers intend to appeal.
Isabelle Adjani is convicted of tax fraud. The Paris criminal court ruled early this afternoon on the fate of the five-César actress, two months after a trial which was held in her absence. She was sentenced to two years’ suspended imprisonment and a fine of 250,000 euros for tax evasion and money laundering. The artist was found guilty of having fraudulently domiciled in Portugal in 2016 and 2017, of passing off a donation of two million euros as a loan and of having transferred 120,000 euros via an undeclared American account .
The court emphasized the “seriousness of the facts», which led to the evasion of 236,000 euros in income tax and 1.2 million euros in transfer taxes. “These facts demonstrate Isabelle Adjani’s desire for concealment from the tax administration» et «seriously undermine the equality of citizens before taxes, and therefore the republican pact», declared the president. “An actress with undeniable talent, she is nonetheless a taxpayer“, she also said.
Read also Suspicions of tax fraud: eighteen months suspended prison sentence required against Isabelle Adjani
Investigation opened in 2016
His lawyers said they heard the decision “with dismay». «If Isabelle Adjani, who has always maintained her innocence, does not ask, given her notoriety, to be judged better than other litigants, there is no reason for her to be judged worse“, declared Olivier Pardo, one of his lawyers. “It is therefore with confidence and determination that we will invite him to immediately file an appeal.»
The trial on October 19 took place without the actress and singer, known in particular for her roles in “The murderous summer» (1983), «Camille Claudel» (1988), «Queen Margot» (1994) or more recently «Masquerade» (2022).
While she was in the United States, her defense requested the postponement of the hearing, citing in particular a “acute pathology“, but the court rejected this request, saying it doubted its “real intention» to come to the stand. The National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) had requested an 18-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 250,000 euros, as well as two years of ineligibility.
«Before being a public figure, she is a citizen subject to duties», had affirmed the financial prosecutors, for whom Isabelle Adjani «sought, quite systematically, to reduce its taxation between 2013 and 2017“. His lawyers Mes Stéphane Babonneau and Olivier Pardo denounced the “trial of intent” and the “beliefs» of the accusation, pleading the good faith of the 68-year-old star actress and requesting her release. The trial took place without the actress and singer, known in particular for her roles in “The murderous summer» (1983), «Camille Claudel» (1988), «Queen Margot» (1994) or more recently «Masquerade» (2022).
The investigation was opened in 2016 after the name of Isabelle Adjani appeared in the Panama Papers, as the owner of a company in the British Virgin Islands. The investigations did not lead to any prosecution on this aspect but other suspicions were brought to light.
Firstly, two million euros transferred in 2013 by Mamadou Diagna NDiaye, an influential businessman, president of the Senegalese National Olympic and Sports Committee and also a member of the International Olympic Committee.
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Fictitious domiciliation in Portugal
According to the prosecution, it was a “disguised donation» on loan, which allowed the actress to avoid 1.2 million euros in transfer taxes. For the defense, on the other hand, the sum corresponds to a “loan declared» from a “ami“, in a “context of very significant financial distress».
Isabelle Adjani was also accused of having fictitiously domiciled in Portugal in 2016 and 2017, thereby evading 236,000 euros of income tax. Living then between the two countries, she committed a “error” while being “poorly advised“, argued his lawyers.
The actress was finally suspected of money laundering, for having received 119,000 euros from an offshore company into an American bank account.undeclared», a sum then transferred to Portugal. Money usedto make a donation to her housekeeper’s family, so that they can acquire property in Portugal», supported his advice.
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