2023-09-18 12:25:43
The appeal trial of the heirs of the Wildenstein family of art dealers, suspected of colossal tax fraud, opened Monday in Paris.
This is the third time that Guy Wildenstein, 77 years old, his nephew Alec junior, 43 years old, and his ex-sister-in-law Liouba Stoupakova, 50 years old, as well as two lawyers, a notary and two fund managers, have been called to appear before French justice.
All the defendants were present on Monday at the first hearing of the Court of Appeal, mainly devoted to procedural questions, with the exception of Alec Junior, absent for “medical reasons”.
Since 2014, the French tax authorities have demanded a total of 550 million euros from the heirs of this world-renowned family of art dealers for having hidden their fabulous fortune in trusts during the various successions.
The court acquitted them in 2017, a decision confirmed before the court of appeal in 2018. But the Court of Cassation ultimately ordered that a new trial take place.
They are being prosecuted for having, after the deaths of Daniel Wildenstein in 2001 and then of his son Alec senior in 2008, concealed most of an estate estimated at several billion euros: sumptuous ranch in Kenya, paintings by Bonnard, Fragonard or Caravaggio, racehorses, art galleries…
These assets were placed in “trusts”, companies under Anglo-Saxon law which house assets entrusted by their owner to a trusted person, the “trustee”.
The whole question is whether the Wildensteins had really disposed of their assets via these structures: if this was the case, they did not have to declare them. On the contrary, if they could dispose of it, they would have had to pay inheritance tax on the entire estate.
This third trial will attempt to dissect the precise functioning of the “Sons trust”, “David trust”, “Delta trust”, “Sylvia trust”…
The president of the court of appeal, Sophie Clément, is used to complex cases. It was she who presided over the so-called “wiretapping” trial in which Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced to three years in prison, one year of which was suspended.
The general counsel, Monica D’Onofrio, already represented the prosecution during the first trial.
Several civil proceedings are still underway, in parallel, concerning the considerable tax adjustments addressed to the heirs.
The trial is due to end on October 4 and the decision of the court of appeal will be reserved.
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