On January 12, 2017, the 32nd chamber of the Paris Criminal Court discharged all of the accused in the so-called “Wildenstein” case. They were being charged with tax fraud and laundering of tax fraud. The Court held, on the one hand, that no legal text mandated a declaration to the tax administration of the content of the trusts with regard to the two declarations of succession that were the object of dispute. On the other hand, the Court declared that the trusts in dispute were not fictional, contrary to what was being argued by the tax administration and the prosecution. The latter decided to appeal the judgment.
Mr. Alec Wildenstein was assisted by François Géry.