Australia's Serious Financial Crime Taskforce has identified 346 of its citizens with links to Swiss banking relationship managers alleged to have promoted tax evasion schemes.
Credit Suisse's head of international wealth management Iqbal Khan said he was surprised by the timing of a tax evasion investigation that led to raids of three of his bank's offices, days before the bank implements an automatic exchange of information with European authorities.
Credit Suisse said authorities dropped into its offices in three European cities, in an investigation over tax offenses.
Australian Raids
Dutch authorities on Friday detailed raids (in Dutch) they carried out in four cities, seizing luxury cars, real estate, a gold bar and jewelry.
The investigation sparked raids in Paris, London and also Australia, Dutch authorities said.
Australia's Serious Financial Crime Taskforce (SFCT) said it had identified 346 of its citizens with links to Swiss banking relationship managers alleged to have actively promoted and facilitated tax evasion schemes.
In the coming week, the SFCT will interview bank employees, taxpayers and lawyers as part of its investigation into whether Australians identified in the data have failed to comply with their tax obligations or been involved in criminal activity.
Damage Limitation
Over the weekend, the Zurich headquartered bank sought to limit damage in the U.K by taking out large ads in British Sunday newspapers stressing a zero-tolerance policy on tax evasion.
The ads, which appeared in the Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph and Observer, stated they were a response to recent reports about tax probes in various European countries.
Among several bullet points, Credit Suisse said it «wishes to conduct business with clients that have paid their taxes.»
More to follow...
