Swiss bank helping rich Americans dodge taxes – Senate

Credit Suisse violated its own 2014 plea agreement, US lawmakers have claimed

Swiss bank Credit Suisse is complicit in an ongoing scheme by wealthy Americans to evade taxes, despite an earlier commitment to a crackdown, the US Senate Finance Committee claimed on Wednesday.

Credit Suisse pleaded guilty in 2014 to criminal charges for helping rich US clients hide assets in offshore accounts to avoid paying taxes. As part of the plea agreement, the bank pledged to crack down on tax dodgers.

However, according to the results of a two-year investigation by the committee, the bank failed to comply.

The probe claims to have uncovered “major violations of that plea agreement, including a previously unknown, ongoing and potentially criminal conspiracy involving the failure to disclose nearly $100 million in secret offshore accounts belonging to a single family of American taxpayers.” 

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According to the report, the total amount concealed in violation of the 2014 plea agreement is more than $700 million.

“Credit Suisse got a discount on the penalty it faced in 2014 for enabling tax evasion because bank executives swore up and down they’d get out of the business of defrauding the United States. This investigation shows Credit Suisse did not make good on that promise,” said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden.

Credit Suisse had to be rescued by the Swiss government earlier this month following multibillion-dollar losses, among other issues. The bank was purchased by rival UBS for about $3.25 billion.

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