Swiss private bank Banque Bonhote & Cie has reached resolution with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) over the tax evasion cases under the department’s Swiss bank programme.
The bank has agreed to pay a penalty of $624,000 to the US to avoid prosecution over allegations that it helped US citizens avoid paying taxes.
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Under the terms of the non-prosecution deal, Banque Bonhote has agreed to cooperate in any related criminal or civil proceedings and demonstrate its implementation of controls to prevent misconduct involving undeclared US accounts and pay penalties.
The DoJ said that the bank maintained 63 US related accounts including both declared and undeclared accounts with a maximum aggregate assets of $88.7m since 1 August 2008.
Banque Bonhote has opened and maintained numbered accounts, as well as holding bank statements and other mail at its offices in Switzerland. It also opened accounts for US taxpayers who had left UBS or Credit Suisse when these banks were being probed by the department.
The department added that the bank also referred its clients to Bonhôte Trust, a Swiss fiduciary and trust advisory firm, which provided help in setting up entities such as offshore companies and foundations, including sham entities.
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By GlobalDataBanque Bonhote had opened accounts via external asset managers and maintained in the name of offshore structures.
