Record seizures of 461 million euros on the assets of a large and discreet owner of the Parisian Golden Triangle
Adrien Labi cherished discretion, but his troubles with the tax authorities decided otherwise. On Wednesday March 8, the courts carried out record seizures, to the tune of 461 million euros – the amount usually recovered in one year in France by the Agency for the management and recovery of seized and confiscated assets – on the assets of this owner of numerous properties in London and in the Parisian Golden Triangle, according to the information from BFM confirmed by The world. These seizures, made following his indictment on Wednesday for “tax evasion”, “omission to make an accounting entry” and “laundering of tax evasion”, are intended to “guarantee the payment of any fine and the regularization of his tax situation”, said the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF). Mr. Labi will also have to pay a bond of 30 million euros as part of his judicial review.
Gargantuan sums, at the height of the heritage and the mystery maintained by Mr. Labi. According to information from World, this Briton, born in Libya, has been buying properties since 2002 in the most exclusive districts of the capital, from the Champ-de-Mars to the avenue Marceau, via the Trocadéro and the Champs-Elysées. Its operations generally pass through civil real estate companies, themselves owned by companies – first a Franco-Luxembourgish structure, then a Danish company.
Complaints in 2014 and 2015
A fine connoisseur of tax rules, Mr. Labi had indeed spotted that the convention linking Paris and Copenhagen left a vagueness on the case of Danish owners in France – whether they are natural persons or companies domiciled in the country – to the point that they are neither taxed in France… nor in Denmark. A tax curiosity which will remain until 2009, date on which Copenhagen will denounce this convention.
The following year, French justice began to take an interest in Mr. Labi. A first preliminary investigation is opened, some hearings are carried out by the financial brigade, but the file is finally closed without follow-up, for lack of convincing elements. In 2014 and 2015, the tax administration filed two new complaints. This time, it’s the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office, which was just born as a result of the Cahuzac scandalwho seizes it.
He opened a preliminary investigation against Mr. Labi, suspecting him of non-payment of income tax, solidarity tax on wealth and property wealth tax. The police officers of the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption and Financial and Tax Offenses are responsible for dissecting his assets.
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