Head for the prison for Patrick Balkany. The mayor of Levallois-Perret, 71, was sentenced on Friday, September 13 in Paris, for tax evasion, to four years in prison with immediate imprisonment. His lawyer Me Dupond-Moretti announced his intention to appeal.
The criminal court followed the requisitions of the National Financial Procuratorate (PNF), which had asked for this sentence against "a big tax fraudster" bathed in "an ocean of cash".
His wife and first assistant, Isabelle Balkany, was sentenced to three years in prison, but without a warrant, the court taking into account his state of health at the time of the trial. She had not attended, convalescing after a suicide attempt in early May.
The couple was also sentenced to ten years of ineligibility and ten years of prohibition to run a company.
At the judgment, the police advanced towards the Baron des Hauts-de-Seine. He kissed his wife, emaciated, came to attend the deliberations.
An estimate of 4 million euros in unpaid taxes
This is the first of two judgments expected after the ultra-media spring trial: for the second part, dedicated to the crimes of money laundering and corruption, the deliberate was set for 18 October.
Between black anger, your booster and long digressions on the upscale commune of the west of Paris that he runs almost continuously since 1983, the former MP had recognized some errors, but touted a "life to serve others".
He had, however, seemed to blame, given the firm four-year announcement against him by the PNF. The court found them guilty of all charges of tax evasion.
The PNF and the tax authorities, who lodged a complaint in 2015, criticize the Balkany for failing to pay EWB between 2010 and 2015, despite assets estimated at 16 million euros a year minimum. But also to have reported largely undervalued income between 2009 and 2014.
In total, the amounts evaded are estimated at more than 4 million euros in income and wealth taxes, an amount contested by the defense.
"Fouls" tax
The elected officials of Levallois-Perret admitted "faults", recognizing some of the accusations of tax fraud.
Among the list of assets that should have been included in the calculation of the tax, the accusation and the tax had pointed in particular the luxurious villa Pamplemousse of Saint-Martin, that Isabella Balkany belatedly admitted owning, and a sumptuous riad in Marrakech , that the couple denies having bought.
The Balkany husbands were also convicted for having underestimated the value of the mill they own in Giverny (Eure, Normandy), which they defend themselves, and to have spent amounts incommensurable with their known incomes, in particular in the form of undeclared species.
The prosecution had not dwelt on the origins of their fortune, prescription requires.
A second judgment on October 18 that looks even more risky
Isabelle Balkany's lawyer had pleaded "guilty of using undeclared estate funds" in reference to family inheritances hidden in Switzerland and never reported. Patrick Balkany had said that the couple had "eaten" its capital from inheritances concealed in Switzerland and never declared and mentioned the flow of gold bullion bequeathed by his father.
Immediate incarceration requested by the PNF sparked the ire of the defense. "It should be sent to prison for everyone to enjoy?", Insurgent had instigated his lawyer, Eric Dupond-Moretti, calling not to add a "humiliation" to the conviction of his client.
The couple's lawyers had argued that "the considerable wealth of families" easily explained the difference between declared and sumptuary expenditures, and attempted to discredit the wealth estimates put forward by the prosecution.
The second judgment, on October 18, promises to be even more risky for the Baron des Hauts-de-Seine, against whom seven years in prison, immediate imprisonment and the confiscation of all his property were required.
With AFP