Fighting against the organised crime of tax evasion
The latest twists in the Cahuzac affair show that money, when it becomes an end in itself, is like crime in its desire to escape the law. Here Mediapart republishes an article by Editor-in-Chief Edwy Plenel in which he sets out how tax evasion has become a colossal and institutionalised business at the centre of the economy. Fighting it has never been more urgent, he argues, yet little effort - if any - is being made to prevent it or to sanction those who are bleeding society of vital resources.
TheThe latest twists in the Cahuzac affair and the large-scale inquiry carried out by the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) show that money, when it becomes an end in itself, is like crime in its desire to escape the law. Tax evasion is not at the periphery but at the centre of an economy that has, under the influence of finance, become Mafia-like. Mediapart has for a long time been involved in the fight against tax fraud, though without witnessing much success on the government's side. Below, Mediapart republishes an article written by Editor-in-Chief Edwy Plenel in the middle of the row in September 2012 over the decision by Bernard Arnault, chief executive of luxury goods firm LVMH, the wealthiest person in France and the fourth wealthiest worldwide, to seek dual Belgian nationality.
