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| Europe |
| Mitterrand's Son Convicted of Tax Fraud |
| 2004-12-08 |
| The eldest son of late President Francois Mitterrand was convicted Wednesday of tax fraud and sentenced to a 30-month suspended prison term. Jean-Christophe Mitterrand was found guilty of not having declared revenue paid by billionaire businessman Pierre Falcone between 1998 and 1999. He was accused of having evaded $798,000 in taxes. Falcone is the central figure in an investigation into alleged illicit weapons sales to Angola. Mitterrand, who served as counselor on African affairs from 1986-92 under his father, has been investigated by French authorities for several years for his suspected role in the alleged arms trafficking. Mitterrand told the Paris court in earlier testimony that he only advised Falcone about oil markets in Africa. He also said he has been a resident of Mauritania since 1996 and that he paid tax there. Mitterrand was not present in court. His lawyer, Olivier Schnerb, said he had been suffering from a sleep disorder and "was not well at the moment." |
| Posted by:Fred |