The Luxembourg authorities are to appeal against the verdict in the recent ‘LuxLeaks’ trial involving two former PwC employees, arguing the sentences handed down by the court were not tough enough
In June, Antoine Deltour and Raphael Halet who previously worked for PwC were given suspended sentences of 12 months and nine months and fined €1500 and €1000 respectively, for their role in exposing thousands of documents detailing private tax agreements between multinational companies and the Luxembourg tax authority.
A third defendant in trial, the French journalist Edouard Perrin, who was given the documents and made the initial LuxLeak revelations on French television, was acquitted of all charges.
The Luxembourg public prosecutor's office has announced it has started legal proceedings to get the verdict reviewed, and wants to see longer sentences for both the PwC former staff members and action taken against Perrin. At the time of the trial, the defendants faced a variety of charges, including theft, and violating confidentiality and data protection laws, which carried potential jail terms of up to 10 years.
The appeal hearing is expected to take place in either late 2016 or early 2017. The defence lawyers for Deltour and Halet have also put in an appeal, and are calling for an acquittal for the men, arguing that their actions should be viewed as a form of public service.
