A new report from the Senate Finance Committee alleged Swiss lender Credit Suisse helped U.S. taxpayers evade paying taxes, violating a 2014 plea deal with the Justice Department.
The investigation by the Senate committee spanned two years and identified $700 million in unidentified wealth held by U.S. citizens in the foreign bank.
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Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) called the alleged violations by the Swiss lender a “massive, ongoing conspiracy” that helps wealthy citizens “evade taxes and rip off their fellow Americans.”
“At the center of this investigation are greedy Swiss bankers and catnapping government regulators, and the result appears to be a massive, ongoing conspiracy to help ultra-wealthy U.S. citizens to evade taxes and rip off their fellow Americans,” Wyden said in a statement Wednesday.
“Credit Suisse got a discount on the penalty it faced in 2014 for enabling tax evasion because bank executives swore up and down they’d get out of the business of defrauding the United States. This investigation shows Credit Suisse did not make good on that promise, and the bank’s pending acquisition does not wipe the slate clean,” he added.
The report said 23 previously undeclared bank accounts, totaling more than $20 million each, belonging to U.S. citizens were found at the Swiss bank after an investigation.
Credit Suisse said it does not tolerate tax evasion and would cooperate with the Senate Finance Committee in a statement Wednesday.
“In its core, the report describes legacy issues, some from a decade ago, and we have implemented extensive enhancements since then to root out individuals who seek to conceal assets from tax authorities,” a spokesperson for the bank told CNN.
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The 2014 plea deal with the DOJ had the Swiss lender plead guilty to charges of allowing some wealthy U.S. people to evade taxes, with it paying $2.6 billion to regulators for violating the law. The bank also promised it would stop aiding attempts for citizens to evade taxes as part of the deal.
Swiss bank UBS recently agreed to buy out Credit Suisse for $3.2 billion after the bank was in danger of failing amid scandals and recent market uncertainty following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
