THE US has finally nailed a bank that has helped Americans to evade tax
on offshore firms. Wegelin & Co., a private bank existing for the last 270
years ,is the first SWISS bank booked for criminal investigation by the Justice
Deparment's tax division. Amidst all the choas ,the bank has agreed to a sale to
Switzerland's Raiffeisen Group after coming under the hammer of the U.S. Earlier
this month three bankers were charged for aiding Americans in stashing away more
than $1.2 Billion in assets that were not declared to the Internal Revenue
Service.Wegelin ,which is one of the 11 banks that is being investigated by the
tax division ,is reportedly ivolved with 100 US taxpayers , three Zurich bankers
and others in tax evasion. $16 million was seized from Wegelins correspondent
bank account in the US at USB AG b federal authorities yesterday.
|
