Ryan Carey
Senate Finance Committee Details Credit Suisse’s Role in an Ongoing, Potentially Criminal Tax Conspiracy Involving $100 Million in Undeclared Offshore Accounts
In Response to Pressure from Committee Investigators, Credit Suisse Identifies 23 Additional Large, Undeclared Accounts Belonging to Ultra-Wealthy Americans each with Assets over $20 Million
Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today released the findings of a two-year investigation into Swiss bank Credit Suisse’s compliance with its 2014 plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for enabling tax evasion by thousands of wealthy U.S. individuals. The committee’s investigation 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. The investigation also shed new light on the extent to which Credit Suisse bankers aided and abetted offshore tax evasion by U.S. businessman Dan Horsky, who pleaded guilty in 2016 to one of the largest criminal tax evasion cases in American history.
The committee also requested information from Credit Suisse on any other large, undeclared accounts belonging to ultra-wealthy U.S. citizens with more than $20 million held at the bank. By the time of the investigation’s conclusion, Credit Suisse disclosed to the committee that it had identified 23 such accounts, with more reviews underway. Based on the committee’s findings, the total amount concealed in violation of Credit Suisse’s 2014 plea agreement is more than $700 million.
“At the center of this investigation are greedy Swiss bankers and catnapping government regulators, and the result appears to be a massive, ongoing conspiracy to help ultra-wealthy U.S. citizens to evade taxes and rip off their fellow Americans,” Senator Wyden said. “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, and the bank’s pending acquisition does not wipe the slate clean. Officials at the Department of Justice have said they intend to crack down on corporate offenders, particularly repeat offenders like Credit Suisse, and I expect them to follow through on that commitment. In addition to a significant penalty for the bank, the individual bankers involved in these schemes must also face criminal investigation. It simply makes no sense to allow the bankers who have their hands on these hidden accounts and enable tax evasion to get away scot free. Finally, the cases detailed in this investigation are textbook examples of why Democrats gave the IRS new funding for enforcement. Republican budget cuts have decimated the IRS’s ability to root out this kind of offshore tax evasion scheme, but Democrats are committed to stepping up enforcement against wealthy tax cheats.”
More detailed findings from the committee’s investigation include:
The full report on the committee’s investigation is available here.
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