Israeli-French Citizen Convicted in Major European Carbon Fraud to Be Extradited to France
Patrick Blaise, an Israeli with French citizenship convicted in one of Europe's largest carbon tax fraud cases, will be extradited to France to serve a four-year prison sentence. The Israeli Supreme Court rejected Blaise's appeal against the extradition order issued by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, based on a bilateral treaty between Israel and France. Blaise was a key figure in the scheme, which involved fraudulent VAT carousel transactions in the carbon emissions trading market between November 2008 and June 2009.
According to the French extradition request, Blaise controlled two companies used by an organized criminal group to manipulate carbon emission allowances allocated under the Kyoto Protocol. The group exploited VAT rules by purchasing carbon credits in VAT-exempt cross-border transactions and selling them within France while charging VAT, pocketing approximately 283.9 million euros instead of remitting it to French tax authorities. Blaise was convicted of fraud involving over 52 million euros and money laundering, having received 530,000 euros for his role. He was also found responsible for opening foreign bank accounts to transfer illicit funds.
Following the French court's verdict and extradition request, the Jerusalem District Court approved Blaise's extradition. Blaise's lawyers argued before the Supreme Court that the delay in France's extradition request triggered a statute of limitations defense. However, Justice Alex Stein, joined by Justices Yechiel Kasher and Khaled Kabub, ruled that Blaise's flight from France to Israel to avoid imprisonment violated Israeli public policy and rejected the appeal. The court emphasized that Blaise chose to remain in Israel and manage his French appeal remotely, and that extraditing him would not harm Israeli public sense of justice or fairness.
Blaise is now set to be handed over to French authorities to serve his sentence for his central role in this extensive carbon tax fraud case.
