Pierre Castel, the co-founder of the wine giant Castel and owner of the famous Nicolas brand, among others, will have to pay nearly 58 million Swiss Francs (60 million euros) to the Geneva tax authorities. This recovery relates to the years 2010 and 2011 and is in addition to the 286 million claimed for the years 2007 and 2008.
The Federal Court, the highest court of justice in Switzerland, rejected the arguments of French billionaire Pierre Castel’s lawyer, who claimed that the tax administration had conducted the case with a bias.
In a ruling dated July 19, this court found that the tax authorities had, on the contrary, conducted the procedure in a “detailed and comprehensive” manner, relying on “a series of concrete indicators.”
“My client takes note of the decision and complies with it,” said Gregory Clerc, a tax lawyer at the Geneva-based firm Aegis, to AFP.
In December, François Pierre Castel, who is one of the founders of the group that owns the Nicolas wine shop network and successful wine brands such as “Baron de Lestac,” “Kriter,” or “Listel,” had already been ordered to pay 286 million Swiss Francs in the first part of the tax recall procedure relating to his tax returns for 2007 and 2008.
“His grievances were well-founded, particularly regarding his right to be heard and his right to present evidence, even though the court decided to side with the tax administration,” his lawyer said. “We were not surprised, this ruling is the logical continuation of the one in December,” he added.
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In early October, the Swiss investigative website Gotham City revealed that the nonagenarian, who had settled in Switzerland after the election of François Mitterrand in 1981, had been convicted on appeal by a court in Geneva for failing to declare part of his fortune.
He had registered in Switzerland under the name Jesus Castel, “which would have allowed him to escape the attention of the tax authorities,” the investigative website claimed.
The tax authorities eventually made the connection after reading newspaper articles and demanded 410 million Swiss Francs from him.
He is among the richest French people in Switzerland in the ranking published annually by Bilan magazine, which lists the 300 largest fortunes in the country.
His lawyer then clarified to AFP that he had “never used a pseudonym or any other identity,” with “Jesus Sebastien Castel” being his “birth name,” and “Pierre” being a “name of use.”
Coming from a modest family of Spanish origin, Pierre Castel left school at the age of eleven and worked with his father as a farm laborer before creating, with his brothers and sisters, the group that has become a giant in the wine and beverage industry, selling 500 million bottles per year worldwide.
The data concerning the French billionaire has been anonymized in the ruling made public by the Federal Court.