Owner of many buildings in the upscale neighborhoods of Paris, Adrien Labi was indicted on Wednesday for suspicion of tax evasion and money laundering, the financial prosecutor’s office announced on Thursday. 461 million euros were also seized.
Adrien Labi, targeted by a search warrant, was placed in police custody on Tuesday as part of an investigation opened in 2015 for tax evasion, said the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF), confirming information from BFM TV.
Judicial control with obligation to pay a deposit
This investigation, entrusted to the Anti-Corruption Office (Oclciff), followed two complaints in 2014 and 2015 from the tax administration relating to a failure to pay income tax, the solidarity tax on the fortune (ISF) then the real estate wealth tax (IFI) of Adrien Labi in his capacity as economic beneficiary of a major real estate group in France, detailed the PNF.
At the end of his police custody, a judicial investigation was opened on Wednesday and Adrien Labi was indicted for tax evasion and failure to pass an accounting entry in 2010 and 2011, as well as for tax evasion and money laundering of this offense between the years 2018 and 2022, according to the financial prosecutor’s office. He was placed under judicial control with the obligation to pay a deposit, said the PNF, without giving the amount. According to BFMTV, this guarantee amounts to 30 million euros.
At the same time, the PNF opened a preliminary investigation on February 24 for organized money laundering of aggravated tax evasion, he added. The real estate group of Adrien Labi is suspected of not declaring the capital gains realized during the sales to the corporation tax.
A mystery around the origin of his fortune
“At the time of police custody, seizures amounting to 461 million euros were made in the two procedures to guarantee the payment of a possible fine and the regularization of his tax situation”, specified a source close to the case.
“According to the Agency for the Management and Recovery of Seized and Confiscated Assets (AGRASC), they represent an entire year of seizures,” observed this source.
According to a survey by Le Monde published in 2015, this British millionaire born in 1953 in Libya owns dozens of buildings in the most luxurious districts of the capital via a real estate company domiciled in Denmark. The amount of this real estate portfolio was at the time estimated at 940 million euros.
A discreet man, he is also an owner in England, California and Switzerland and sells vintage cars, according to Le Monde. He would derive his fortune from his family but the origin of the funds remains a mystery.