Swiss banker faces trial in France for tax fraud

Keystone / Martin Ruetschi

Paul Hottinguer, a member of one of Switzerland’s most renowned banking families, is due to stand trial in Paris this June on charges of tax fraud and money laundering.

+ Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

He is suspected of falsely claiming residency in Switzerland to avoid paying taxes in France, according to judicial sources on Wednesday.

The 82-year-old, also known as Hottinger, will stand trial before the 32nd Chamber of the Paris Criminal Court on June 2 and 4, facing charges of tax fraud and laundering proceeds from tax fraud between 2012 and 2020.

+Swiss private bank Hottinger faces bankruptcy

He is accused of “concealing €8.7 million (CHF8.2 million) in income from tax authorities by falsely claiming Swiss residency between 2012 and 2020”. The years 2016, 2017 and 2022 are still under review. So far, the evaded taxes are estimated at €3.1 million, according to the source.

Swiss banker hides millions

The hidden assets for wealth tax are estimated at €7.7 million, resulting in €110,000 of evaded taxes, the source added. His son, Philippe Hottinguer, and his former assistant will also stand trial for complicity in these crimes.

+Swiss private banker admits US tax evasion scamExternal link

“Paul Hottinger denies the allegations. During the investigation, he stated that he was not a French tax resident during the years in question and he paid his taxes in Switzerland,” his lawyers Martin Reynaud and Michel Gryner told French news agency AFP.

The National Financial Prosecutor’s Office launched its investigation in 2019 following a complaint from the tax authorities. Hottinguer, who owns a large apartment in Paris’s 16th arrondissement and is known for hosting hunts at his château in Seine-et-Marne, has reportedly lived in Switzerland since the 1980s, according to the prosecution.

Financial scheme

Invoices, phone records, travel logs, voter registration, club memberships, hunting organisation, bank accounts, real estate and staff employment records all indicate that Hottinguer is “resident in France” and “earns his income from activities within the country”, according to the same source.

He is also accused of creating a financial scheme involving companies and foundations registered abroad, using offshore accounts to funnel dividends from his activities in France, particularly through a real estate company, to completely evade taxes, the source specified.

His son, “who managed and administered several of these companies”, received the dividends and transferred them to his father, according to the judicial source.

His former assistant is accused of falsely declaring Paul Hottinguer’s residence in Switzerland and managing his financial scheme.

The Hottinguers are one of Europe’s oldest banking families, with historical roots in Zurich.

Translated from French with DeepL/sp

How we work

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to [e-mail].