A Swiss banker has pleaded guilty in the United States to hiding over $60 million in secret accounts from tax authorities through opaque channels.
The Swiss banker admitted to conspiring to defraud the United States by participating in a system that helped wealthy US taxpayers hide their income and assets in offshore accounts.
According to court documents, the former head of Allied Finance Trust, a Zurich-based financial services company and subsidiary of Allied Finance Group in Liechtenstein, and his “co-conspirators” hid income and assets of wealthy US clients on undeclared bank accounts at Swiss private bank IHAG Zurich (IHAG) from around 2008 to 2014.
As previously reported by finews.ch, US authorities filed charges against six Swiss bankers in this case in 2021.
Hidden from US tax authorities
They jointly developed and implemented a plan known as the “Singapore solution” to conceal the bank accounts, assets, and income of US clients from US authorities.
As part of this plan, they agreed to transfer over $60 million from the undeclared IHAG bank accounts of US taxpayers through a series of trust accounts in Hong Kong and other locations before returning the funds to newly opened accounts at IHAG in the name of a Singapore-based asset management company co-founded by a co-conspirator.
High fees paid
The US taxpayers’ clients reportedly paid IHAG and others high fees for helping them hide their funds and assets and evade taxes.
The former banker was arrested in Italy in August and extradited to the US. His sentencing is scheduled for July 19, 2024, and he faces a maximum prison term of five years.
This News Article was automatically generated by Bob the Bot (AI)
| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Geography | Europe |
| Countries | 🇨🇭 🇺🇸 🇱🇮 🇭🇰 🇸🇬 🇮🇹 |
| Sentiment | negative |
| Relevance Score | 1 |
| People | None |
| Companies | Allied Finance Group, Allied Finance Trust, IHAG Zürich, IHAG, US-Justiz |
| Currencies | US Dollar |
| Securities | None |
