BERN: The United States fined $211 million (CHF203 million) a Swiss based BSI bank for aiding and abetting tax cheats. It is the first Swiss-based bank to complete the non-prosecution program set up in 2013 to clear up past tax evasion offences.
BSI had more than 3,000 active accounts relating to US citizens after 2008, according to the Department of Justice (DoJ). It helped US clients set up sham companies to shield their identities and issued credit cards with no visible names on the card.
The DoJ press release also revealed the use of codes, such as “can you download some tunes for us?” or “gas tank is running empty” to indicate the need for illicit cash transfers.“BSI is paying an appropriate penalty for its misconduct and the information and continuing cooperation we have required the banks to provide in order to participate in the program is allowing us to systematically attack offshore tax avoidance schemes,” said DoJ Acting Associate Attorney General Stuart F Delery.
