ALEXANDRIA, Va. (CHATNEWSTV) — Credit Suisse Services AG pleaded guilty Tuesday to helping wealthy Americans hide more than $4 billion from U.S. tax authorities through secret offshore accounts, admitting it violated a prior plea agreement by continuing the illegal conduct for years.
The Swiss firm, a subsidiary of Credit Suisse AG, also entered into a non-prosecution agreement related to undeclared U.S. accounts at Credit Suisse AG Singapore. Prosecutors said the company helped U.S. clients evade taxes through at least 475 offshore accounts between 2010 and 2021, even after a 2014 plea deal that was supposed to end such conduct.
“Credit Suisse not only broke the law—it broke its promise,” said U.S. Attorney Erik S. Siebert of the Eastern District of Virginia. “The bank breached its prior agreement with the Justice Department and continued to help U.S. taxpayers dodge their tax obligations.”
As part of Tuesday’s resolution, Credit Suisse Services AG and its successor, UBS AG, agreed to pay $510.6 million in restitution, fines, and penalties. The agreement provides no protections to individual employees or account holders.
The Justice Department said Credit Suisse AG employees conspired with American clients to conceal their ownership of foreign assets, providing private banking services that enabled the evasion of IRS reporting requirements. Prosecutors said some bankers falsified records, processed fake donations, and handled more than $1 billion in undocumented accounts.
“This case sends a clear message to financial institutions: cooperating with tax evasion has consequences, especially when you’ve already been caught once,” said Karen E. Kelly, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
Authorities said Credit Suisse AG Singapore also held over $2 billion in undeclared U.S. accounts between 2014 and June 2023. After merging with UBS AG Singapore, the new entity voluntarily disclosed some of the hidden accounts and began cooperating with federal investigators.
IRS Criminal Investigation Chief Guy Ficco said his agency’s D.C.-based international tax team led the years-long probe. “We will follow the money across borders and hold institutions accountable, no matter how complex the web of transactions,” Ficco said.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly M. Shartar and senior tax prosecutors from the Justice Department, with support from the Office of International Affairs.
