Luxembourg Appealing ‘LuxLeak’ Sentences
Luxembourg’s state prosecutor has begun an appeal against the verdict at the recent “LuxLeaks” trial, arguing the sentences handed down by the court were too lenient.
Earlier this year, Antoine Deltour and Raphael Halet, both former employees at advisory firm PwC, were given suspended sentences of 12 months and nine months, respectively, by the court for their role in exposing thousands of documents detailing private tax rulings between multinational companies and the Luxembourg tax authority. They were also ordered to pay fines of EUR1,500 (USD1,680) and EUR1,000, respectively. A third defendant, French Journalist Edouard Perrin, who made the initial LuxLeak revelations on French television, was acquitted of all charges.
The defendants faced a variety of charges during the trial, which began in April 2016, including theft, and violating confidentiality and data protection laws. They faced prison sentences of up to ten years.
However, the public prosecutor’s office has reportedly launched legal proceedings to increase the severity of the sentences. The appeal hearing is expected to take place in either late 2016 or early 2017.
The fall-out from the LuxLeak disclosures is now being felt all over the European Union, as the European Commission investigates national private tax ruling practices in all member states.
Source: Tax News
