Gwladys Laffitte
Patrick Balkany will be released from prison this Friday, after five months in detention. He had already served five months of his three-year sentence for tax evasion, then was released on an electronic bracelet. Failure to comply with his house arrest had led to his re-incarceration at Fleury-Mérogis in February.
After five months of a long legal battle initiated by this former right-wing pundit, the Paris Court of Appeal has handed down its decision. She authorized, Thursday August 4, the former mayor of Levallois-Perret Patrick Balkany to leave prison on Friday, a conditional release after five months spent in Fleury-Mérogis for tax evasion.
Money laundering aggravated by tax evasion
But, the former mayor of Levallois-Perret will again have to face a court in October, in the second part of this case, that of the aggravated money laundering of tax evasion. He was declared guilty but the length of his sentence must still be decided, precisely during this hearing, just like that of his wife Isabelle Balkany, also condemned.
A debt of four million euros
Patrick Balkany is implicated in two other cases, which earned him two indictments. The first for embezzlement of public funds because he is suspected of having used drivers paid by the city for personal purposes. The second for misuse of corporate assets and illegal taking of interest, this time the case also concerns other protagonists, against a background of misuse of premises belonging to the city of Levallois-Perret.
Both of these investigations are still ongoing. At the same time, he must repay his debt to the French tax authorities which amounts to four million euros.