Swiss banker pleads guilty to tax offences in the US
A Swiss banker has pleaded guilty to tax offences in the United States. Between 2008 and 2014, he allegedly helped wealthy US clients hide their assets from the US authorities in accounts at Zurich-based Ihag Privatbank.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
The former head of the Zurich-based Allied Finance Trust, a subsidiary of the Liechtenstein-based Allied Finance Group, and his “co-conspirators” transferred more than $60 million (CHF51.4 million) from US taxpayers to undeclared Ihag bank accounts, according to a statement issued by the US Department of Justice on Thursday.
The Swiss national was arrested in Italy in August 2023 and extradited to the United States. According to the press release, he now faces up to five years in prison as well as fines and claims for restitution.
A senior employee of Ihag Holding had already pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting tax evasion to the US authorities in spring 2023. In 2021 the US judiciary brought charges against a total of six bankers associated with Ihag Privatbank and Allied Finance.
According to the indictment, the bankers implemented a scheme known as the “Singapore Solution”, in which the funds of US taxpayers were channelled via various bank accounts in Hong Kong and other locations to newly opened accounts in the name of a Singaporean asset management company at Ihag. The US clients had paid high fees to Ihag and other parties involved.
The private bank Ihag itself reached an agreement with the US Department of Justice in November 2015 in the tax dispute. It had paid a fine of $7.45 million.
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. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Popular Stories
More
Culture
Documentary portrays Swiss teenagers forced to return to parents’ homeland
Switzerland condemned for deciding to deport gay Iranian
This content was published on
Switzerland violated the prohibition on inhuman treatment by considering that a gay Iranian could be returned to his country.
Gestational diabetes found to increase risk of adult-onset diabetes
This content was published on
A research team from the Lake Geneva region has identified persistent dysfunctions in glucose regulation in women with gestational diabetes. In the long term, this can increase the risk of adult-onset diabetes by up to ten times.
Swiss village must be evacuated by midday on Sunday
This content was published on
The village of Brienz-Brinzauls in eastern Switzerland, which is threatened by a rockfall, must be evacuated by 1pm on Sunday. All residents must leave the village.
This content was published on
A former judge of the Graubünden Administrative Court in eastern Switzerland has been found guilty of rape, sexual harassment and threatening a former trainee.
Costs and care time increase in Swiss retirement and nursing homes
This content was published on
In 2023 the costs of retirement and nursing homes increased by 5% compared to 2022 and those of assistance and care at home by 7%. Together, they amounted to CHF15 billion.
This content was published on
Almost half of the population in Switzerland shows clear to pronounced signs of smartphone addiction, according to a survey.
Swiss healthcare stakeholders want to save CHF300 million
This content was published on
The main players in the Swiss healthcare sector want to save around CHF300 million ($340 million) in healthcare costs a year from 2026.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.