U.S. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) are calling on U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to stop a Swiss bank from enabling tax evasion by U.S. citizens.
Wyden, the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, and Beyer, a former ambassador to Switzerland, also want Garland to hold accountable individual bankers involved in these criminal schemes.
The letter to Garland follows the release of the Senate Finance Committee’s two-year investigation into whether the Swiss bank Credit Suisse had violated the plea agreement it had reached with the Department of Justice in 2014. The plead deal was over Credit Suisse role in a criminal tax conspiracy involving thousands of American citizens. The investigation uncovered major violations of that plea agreement, including ongoing, potentially criminal tax evasion, lax internal controls at Credit Suisse, and hundreds of millions of dollars hidden from U.S. authorities.
The lawmakers said that a merger or bailout by the Swiss government of Credit Suisse should not absolve it, or other Swiss banks or bankers, of criminal liability for facilitating tax evasion by U.S. persons.
“Credit Suisse got a discount of $1.3 billion on the penalty it faced in 2014 for enabling tax evasion because its executives swore up and down they’d get out of the business of defrauding the United States. This Senate Finance Committee’s investigation shows Credit Suisse did not make good on that promise, and the bank’s pending acquisition by UBS should not wipe the slate clean,” Wyden and Beyer wrote to Garland.
They urged Garland to investigate the facts presented in the Finance Committee’s report and send a message that this type of violation will not be tolerated.
“The Department must also hold accountable any individual bankers who actively assisted wealthy Americans in filing false tax returns with the IRS. It is imperative for the fair administration of justice to demonstrate that financial institutions and bankers who knowingly engage in criminal activity are not above the law,” they wrote.