Tulipe. This is the code name chosen by the national financial prosecutor Eliane Houlette to designate Google unwittingly in the investigation for tax evasion and money laundering tax evasion opened June 16, 2015 and remained secret until the wide search last week . “ We have to ensure complete confidentiality, decided never to say the word Google, and we worked out this folder only network for almost a year ,” she said this week- end in the show “Grand appointment” Europe 1-iTV-Le Monde.
The “tulip” (one of the companies, “ may be the parent company ” is registered in the Netherlands) was picked last Tuesday by the search which involved a total of 96 people: 25 computer experts, 6 representatives of the prosecution and all investigators of the central fight against corruption and financial and tax offenses (OCLCIFF).
Second stage rocket
This criminal procedure, according to our information, covering the period 2011-2015 is the second stage of the rocket launched by France against the American. It is completely separate, but follows the purely fiscal procedure that led to a house search of the premises of the company in Paris by the tax authorities in 2011 and a reorganization proposal involving a sum of around 1.6 billion euros (including interest and late fees).
This other matter on which both parties should logically come into litigation phase door according to our sources over the period 2005-2011. It is whether Google Ireland Ltd then had a permanent establishment in France and if it failed to report some of the activities she realized it. There may be marginal adjustments, but we are not in this logic “.
Several terabytes of records
so there are many open two fronts against Google: tax proceedings and criminal proceedings then, that if it relates to the same facts, not about the same period of analysis. “In the tax procedure, the tax authorities found that the practices of the company to avoid tax recurred every year , decrypts an expert dossier. So he asked if they still persisted. This is to get to the bottom he referred the matter to the national financial Parquet “, showing that Bercy also knows when he wants to, coordinate with justice in the hunt for fraud.
In criminal cases, Google faces up to 10 million euro fine for tax evasion aspect of this issue. As for the possible tax fraud laundering offense, it is punishable by 10 years in prison and 750,000 euro fine or half of the money laundered. The criminal penalty would however not exclusive, if the offense was proved, another turnaround.
The work of the judiciary as part of this preliminary investigation will be long and difficult. “We raised a lot of computer data, I think there are several terabytes of documents” , said Eliane Houlette, who believes that several months or several years will be needed to exploit them. “We are limited by material means. We would highly efficient software that exist, but we do not have “. Tools that, precisely, are the strength of Google
. <- tpl_article / bloc_servitiel -> <- nbrPV:! 0 -> <- status: non-registered -> <- tpl_article / bloc_servitiel_nl ->!
No comments:
Post a Comment