Prosecutors on Thursday sought a two-year suspended prison term and a nine-million-euro ($9.96-million) fine for tax fraud against 91-year-old Serge Dassault, one of France's leading industrialists and wealthiest citizens, reports Yahoo! News.
They also want Dassault -- who is also a conservative member of the Senate -- declared ineligible to serve as a senator for five years.
Dassault, the head of aviation and software giant Dassault Group, is accused of stashing millions of euros in tax havens from Liechtenstein to the British Virgin Islands.
The prosecution slammed Dassault for not appearing in court for the trial, which started Monday.
"There is his law and the law of others," said prosecutor Ulrika Delaunay-Weiss, accusing the tycoon of "flouting and trampling on republican values."
Dassault is France's third wealthiest person, with a net worth estimated by Forbes magazine of $14.8 billion (13.3 billion euros).
Prosecutors say his foreign accounts contained 31 million euros in 2006, and 12 million euros in 2014.
"We don't know what became of this 19-million euro difference," said lead judge Olivier Geron.
The only evidence brought by Dassault's lawyers were letters indicating the money had been inherited.
The court heard that the money may have been placed in the accounts in the 1950s by his father Marcel Dassault who was afraid of "reliving the war" during which he had been imprisoned and deported for refusing to collaborate with Germany's aviation industry.
Marcel Dassault - who changed his original surname Bloch to Dassault which means "on the attack" in French - developed a propeller used by French pilots in World War I and went on to create fighter jets and form Dassault Aviation.
His son Serge has had a more controversial career.
If the court follows prosecutors' suggestions it will be the second time a court strips him of a political position.
Read more of this AFP report published by Yahoo! News.
Read Mediapart's coverage of this story here.