Swiss banks Bordier & Cie Switzerland, PBZ Verwaltungs and PostFinance have reached resolutions with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) over the tax evasion cases under the department’s Swiss bank programme.
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The three banks have collectively agreed to pay a penalty of more than $15m to the US to avoid prosecution over allegations accusing them of helping Americans evade taxes.
The $15m penalty will include $7.8m from Bordier, $5.57m from PBZ, and $2m from PostFinance.
Under the terms of the non-prosecution agreements, the banks have agreed to cooperate in any related criminal or civil proceedings and demonstrate implementation of controls to prevent misconduct.
The US DoJ said that Bordier maintained about 292 US related accounts with an aggregate value of $440m since 2008. Bordier knew that some of its US clients were using their accounts at Bordier to avoid US taxes and reporting requirements.
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By GlobalDataThe DoJ noted that for one account, a US taxpayer-client had refused to provide a copy of his passport, despite repeated requests from Bordier, and in 1998, this client signed bank forms with a fake signature to avoid potential recognition.
Bordier noted in the files: "Client will introduce a South African friend domiciled in Monaco who will invest in USA and transfer funds to the client."
According to the DoJ, as early as 2008, PBZ, a Zurich-based private bank, knew that some US-related accounts held untaxed funds, which were described within PBZ in one instance as Schwarzgeld or black money.
The bank has opened accounts for foundations and other entities set up in Panama, Liechtenstein and in several island countries. It also provided a variety of traditional Swiss banking services including hold mail and numbered accounts that it knew could assist US taxpayers in hiding their identity from the IRS.
The DoJ added that PBZ helped its US clients in sending money to themselves, relatives, business partners or other businesses in the US by issuing checks drawn on PBZ’s own bank account. PBZ maintained 171 US related accounts having a maximum aggregate value of more than $101m from 2008 through 2014.
PostFinance, headquartered in Bern, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Swiss Post and has provided the predominant means of payment in Switzerland.
PostFinance opened and maintained undeclared accounts belonging to customers who were subject to US tax and were not complying with their US tax obligations.
Since 1 August 2008, PostFinance maintained a total of 2,731 US related accounts having a maximum aggregate value of roughly $290m.
