Isabelle Adjani Receives Two-Year Suspended Prison Sentence for Tax Fraud

Samantha Bergeson
·2 min read
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Isabelle Adjani has been found guilty of tax fraud in Paris courts.

The “Possession” actress was given a two-year suspended prison sentence and fined €250,000, as Variety reported. IndieWire has reached out for comment.

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The court found that Adjani set up her permanent residency in Portugal between 2016 and 2017 to avoid paying €236,000 in taxes. Additionally, the star did not declare €120,000 when depositing the funds into a U.S. bank account, and also disguised a €2 million donation into a loan. The investigation was opened in 2016, with a case of alleged fraud in business expenses leading to a second investigation in October 2020. A business associate had filed a complaint against Adjani in 2015 leading to the case.

Adjani’s attorney Olivier Pardo told Variety that they will be filing an appeal after the courts “relentlessly” prosecuted the actress. In October 2023, financial prosecutors had requested a suspended sentence of 18 months as well as a €250,000 fine; the Parisian judge instead went for two years.

“We are dismayed by this ruling,” Pardo said. “Isabelle Adjani couldn’t attend the trial, and we had asked to reschedule it so that she could be there to be heard, but they didn’t allow it. They’re relentlessly going after her.”

Adjani is a two Oscar nominee for “The Story of Adele H” and “Camille Claudel.” She recently appeared in the Netflix film “Voleuses” directed by Melanie Laurent. The actress also spoke out about the 1981 cult film “Possession” earlier this year, telling Interview magazine that she endured “great violence” under director Andrzej Żuławski.

“I’ve realized over the years that it’s something I could never accept again, and it’s part of everything that my subconscious has been swallowing and incubating,” Adjani said. “I wonder if acting has been a bit unhealthy during certain periods of my life, no?”

She continued, “I consider myself a survivor for a lot of reasons. […] What’s beautiful is to make a place within yourself for a character, without that character turning into a negative entity, but sometimes your life gets blown apart like that. Great actresses have been devoured from the inside. It’s a kind of self-cannibalism. It’s not a job that facilitates a happy frame of mind, quite the opposite. That’s why it’s important to be surrounded by friends who can be angels, but also conscientious objectors. Otherwise, you can lose yourself.”

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