Swiss bank founder wanted for arrest: Source
French judges have issued an arrest warrant for the founder of Swiss bank Reyl and Cie, which is under investigation for tax fraud, a source close to the case said Friday.
The warrant came after Dominique Reyl failed to turn up for questioning by investigating magistrates on December 11 and instead sent a letter apologising for his absence, the source said.
Reyl and Cie is at the heart of a scandal that saw former French budget minister Jerome Cahuzac resign for keeping undeclared funds in Switzerland and
Singapore.
Cahuzac's account is believed to have resided for a time with Reyl before the bank in 2009 helped him transfer the funds to Singapore to avoid detection by French tax authorities.
Both Reyl and his son Francois, the current head of the bank, have been charged with laundering tax fraud proceeds.
The French probe is seeking to determine what mechanism the bank allegedly put in place to allow rich French citizens to open undeclared accounts.
It was sparked by Pierre Condamin-Gerbier, a former Reyl employee turned whistleblower, who claimed in April he had a list of several French politicians with hidden Swiss bank accounts.
Reyl filed a criminal complaint against him in June for among other things "falsifying documents and violating professional and commercial confidentiality."
Swiss authorities briefly detained Condamin-Gerbier this summer, and he has since remained completely silent on the affair.
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The warrant came after Dominique Reyl failed to turn up for questioning by investigating magistrates on December 11 and instead sent a letter apologising for his absence, the source said.
Reyl and Cie is at the heart of a scandal that saw former French budget minister Jerome Cahuzac resign for keeping undeclared funds in Switzerland and
Singapore.
Cahuzac's account is believed to have resided for a time with Reyl before the bank in 2009 helped him transfer the funds to Singapore to avoid detection by French tax authorities.
Both Reyl and his son Francois, the current head of the bank, have been charged with laundering tax fraud proceeds.
The French probe is seeking to determine what mechanism the bank allegedly put in place to allow rich French citizens to open undeclared accounts.
It was sparked by Pierre Condamin-Gerbier, a former Reyl employee turned whistleblower, who claimed in April he had a list of several French politicians with hidden Swiss bank accounts.
Reyl filed a criminal complaint against him in June for among other things "falsifying documents and violating professional and commercial confidentiality."
Swiss authorities briefly detained Condamin-Gerbier this summer, and he has since remained completely silent on the affair.
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