Advertisement

Stolen data to be used to prosecute tax dodgers

Author thumbnail
Stolen data to be used to prosecute tax dodgers
Photo: DPA

Germany will prosecute tax fraudsters using stolen data it bought about its citizens who secretly deposited assets in HSBC bank in Luxembourg, the Financial Times Deutschland will report Friday.

Advertisement

The German state of North-Rhine Westphalia bought for about €3 million a CD-ROM some months ago containing information on the bank accounts held by Germans in Luxembourg, said the newspaper.

Prosecutions by the treasury could start next month.

Germany has in recent years been engaged in a crusade against tax evasion using banking data from Lichtenstein and Switzerland, putting its ties with these countries at risk.

Last year, Berlin recovered €1.6 billion from fraudsters using stolen data on Germans who had placed assets in banks in these two countries, according to news reports.

A CD-ROM from Lichtenstein was bought for €5 million in 2008, leading to the arrest of Deutsche Post ex-chief Klaus Zumwinkel, and his conviction on tax evasion.

In 2009, German authorities turned their sights on lists of Swiss bank clients, also obtained at a price.

The German Constitutional Court has given the go-ahead for the use of such data to track fraudsters.

AFP/mdm

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also