Jean-Marie Le Pen allegedly had a hidden account in Switzerland

Died on January 7, Jean-Marie Le Pen was at the heart of a legal case: he was suspected of having a hidden account in Switzerland.

French justice has been interested, in recent years, in a hidden account that Jean-Marie Le Pen – who died on January 7 – allegedly held in Switzerland. The butler and personal assistant of the founder of the National Front (FN) is on trial for tax fraud and money laundering.

The affair was revealed in 2015 by Mediapart. The Tracfin financial intelligence unit and the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATVP) had reported to the courts the possible existence of a bank account hidden abroad and belonging to the far-right politician.

The Montretout mansion in Saint-Cloud, near Paris, the Le Pen family home which also houses the patriarch’s offices, was searched in November 2015 in this affair.

Gold bars and coins

According to Mediapartthis account would be linked to a trust based in the Virgin Islands and whose beneficiary would be the personal assistant of Jean-Marie Le Pen. According to this report, the trust would include an account funded to the tune of 2.2 million euros, including 1.7 million in the form of gold bars and coins. Jean-Marie Le Pen then denied any involvement in a trust abroad.

The same suspicions appeared in 2016 in the “Panama Papers”. Liberation writes for his part that the trust, registered in 2000, first belonged to Georges Paschos, brother of Jany Le Pen, until his death in 2008. It was then his son, Achille Paschos, who was the beneficiary, then Gérald Gérin, the butler, from 2014.

Verdict expected

On December 9, an 18-month suspended prison sentence was requested in Paris against Gérald Gérin, as well as a fine of 230,000 euros, corresponding to 10% of the assets he allegedly concealed. The judgment is expected on January 21.

The case of Jean-Marie Le Pen and his wife Jany was separated from that of Gérin. According to Mediapart, it is suspended following the dispute with the tax administration and a possible transaction between the General Directorate of Public Finances and the Le Pens. In the event of tax discharge, the courts will not be able to consider prosecution. (jah/ats)

For 20 years, Swiss unionized workers have been insufficiently protected against unfair dismissals, believes the Swiss Trade Union. The United Nations also criticizes Switzerland. Despite international pressure, the social partners are unable to agree.

The timing was not optimal. A few weeks before the International Labor Organization (ILO) celebrated its 100th anniversary, it placed Switzerland on a blacklist in May 2019. This brings together forty countries with the most worrying cases of labor rights violations. Switzerland found itself in a bad position: with Greece and Belarus, it was the only European country on the list.