French journalist charged for role in 'LuxLeaks' revelations

Δημοσιεύθηκε: 23 Απριλίου 2015 - 20:02

A French journalist has been charged over his role in the LuxLeaks corporate tax avoidance revelations as Luxembourg authorities crack down on those involved in one of history's biggest financial leaks.

Edouard Perrin was indicted by a judge in Luxembourg following the revelation that 340 of the world's biggest companies cut their tax bills by funnelling money through the Grand Duchy.

Others involved in the leak of 28,000 pages of documents taken from accountant PwC have already been charged for their part in the affair, which helped shed light on the tax practices of the EU's smallest state.

Antoine Deltour, a 29-year old whistleblower and former PwC employee who first leaked the documents, potentially faces a fine and a jail sentence on charges ranging from theft to breaking Luxembourg's secrecy laws.

Another former PwC employee, who has not been named, was charged at the start of the year.

Prosecutors in Luxembourg said they had "proceeded with the indictment of a French journalist" on Thursday.

"The judge charged [the journalist] with being the co-author, or accomplice, of the offences committed by one of the former PwC employees," their statement said.

Mr Perrin declined to comment. The French journalist was the first to air the allegations, unveiling some of the leaked files on French current affairs show Cash Investigation in 2012.

The tabular content relating to this article is not available to view. Apologies in advance for the inconvenience caused.

Two years later the documents became the basis of a wider investigation by an international group of journalists which showed how companies ranging from Ikea to Pepsi funnelled money through Luxembourg to benefit from tax rates as low as 1 per cent.

There was no suggestion that the arrangements were illegal under Luxembourg law.

But the revelations triggered uproar throughout Europe, particularly as Jean-Claude Juncker, former Luxembourg prime minister, had just been appointed president of the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU.

Nearly all the tax arrangements revealed were signed during his 1995-2013 tenure as Luxembourg's premier.

Mr Juncker comfortably survived a vote of no-confidence in the European Parliament late last year.

The question of how to treat those involved in the leak has split Luxembourg's financial sector, with some wanting stiff punishments for those involved and others arguing for leniency to avoid more controversy.

© The Financial Times Limited 2015. All rights reserved.
FT and Financial Times are trademarks of the Financial Times Ltd.
Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.
Euro2day.gr is solely responsible for providing this translation and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation