The Paris Court of Appeal on Wednesday sentenced Isabelle Adjani to a 10-month suspended prison sentence and a €10,000 fine for aggravated tax fraud. The court upheld her conviction but significantly reduced the sentence handed down in the first instance.
A significantly reduced sentence
In December 2023, the Paris Criminal Court sentenced the actress to two years' suspended imprisonment and a €250,000 fine. On appeal, the sentence was reduced to ten months' suspended imprisonment and a €10,000 fine. The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction but revised the severity of the sentence.
One of Isabelle Adjani's lawyers has announced an appeal to the Court of Cassation. The legal proceedings could therefore continue before the highest court in the French judicial system, which will not retry the facts but will review the application of the law.
The three selected components
Isabelle Adjani faces several separate charges related to incidents that occurred between 2013 and 2017. The first concerns her tax residency in Portugal in 2016 and 2017. Judges determined that she had fictitiously registered her residence there, while her main interests were in France. This aspect of the case led to charges of tax fraud amounting to €236,000.
The second part concerns two million euros paid in 2013 by businessman Mamadou Diagna NDiaye. This sum was presented as a loan. The court considered it a disguised gift, allowing him to avoid 1,2 million euros in transfer taxes.
The third part concerns 119,000 euros transferred to Portugal via an undeclared account in the United States. In the initial trial, this money transfer was considered evidence of money laundering, with the judges concluding that the operation aimed to conceal the origin and destination of the funds.
The defense argues that there was an error, bad advice, and no fraudulent intent.
Isabelle Adjani denied organizing any fraud. During her appeal trial, she explained that she had never filed her own tax returns and had entrusted her affairs to advisors. She described a situation of administrative and financial dependence, claiming she had been poorly advised and was a victim of people to whom she had entrusted the management of her interests.
Her defense argued that she had made a mistake on her tax return by registering her residence in Portugal. Regarding the two million euros, her lawyers claimed it was a loan arranged under legal supervision. As for the 119,000 euros, they explained that the transfer was intended to help her housekeeper's family purchase property in Portugal.
The tax authorities maintain French residency
The French tax authorities argued that Isabelle Adjani should be considered a French tax resident. The tax administration's lawyer maintained that she had the majority of her interests in France and should therefore declare her income there.
A case that originated from the Panama Papers
The investigation was opened in 2016 after Isabelle Adjani's name appeared in the Panama Papers, where she was listed as the owner of a company in the British Virgin Islands. This aspect of the case did not lead to prosecution, but the investigations uncovered other tax-related suspicions that ultimately led to the trial.
