Luxembourg public prosecutor lodged an appeal against the verdict on the recent so-called scandal “LuxLeaks”, arguing that the sentences imposed by the court was too lenient.
Earlier this year, Antoine Deltour and Raphael Halet, both former employees of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) consulting firm, received suspended sentences by the court 12 and 9 months, respectively, for their role in the disclosure of thousands of documents detailing the private tax ruling between multinational companies and the tax authority of Luxembourg. They also had to pay a fine of 1,500 EUR (1,680 USD) and 1,000 EUR, respectively. A third defendant, a French journalist Edouard Perrin, who made the initial discovery of LuxLeak and the first to publish the story on French television, was acquitted of all charges.
Let us recall that in this scandal for the exemplary data were involved 340 major transnational and national companies from around the world. It is believed that the defendants, with the support of the local authorities thought out and implemented an elaborate scheme of tax evasion, in some cases, reducing the payout to just 1%.
The defendants face various charges during the trial, which began in April 2016, including theft, and violation of privacy and data protection laws. They may face up to ten years in prison.
Nevertheless, the prosecutor’s office, reportedly began the trial in order to increase the severity of punishment. Appeal hearing is expected to take place in late 2016 or in the beginning of 2017.
The shadow of the scandal on the disclosure of fraud LuxLeak currently felt throughout the European Union, as the European Commission examines the national private tax practice in all member states.