For the second time in the past two years, a Swiss bank has handed over client records to the IRS. Rupert Neate reports in the Guardian that Credit Suisse, the second largest bank in Switzerland, has produced details on 130 Americans suspected of evading billions of dollars in taxes.
This latest crack down on unreported offshore accounts comes less than three months after the 2011 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (“OVDI”) deadline of August 31, 2011. Criminal investigations are also being conducted on 11 financial institutions, including Credit Suisse, for facilitating tax evasion by U.S. citizens.
With prosecuting secret offshore bank accounts being one of the U.S. Department of Justices top priorities, we are likely to see more investigations and criminal charges in the coming months.
See the U.S. Department of Justice’s Offshore Compliance Initiative website.