In the investigation the names of 7000 Italian. The shadow of tax evasion for 180 billion euro
Milan , February 9, 2015 – 7:35
PARIS The French newspaper Le Monde put online last night the first contents of a big investigation as to reveal a system of tax evasion worldwide conducted thanks to the services of the British bank HSBC through the Swiss subsidiary HSBC Private Bank, based in Geneva. Under the name of “SwissLeaks» Le Monde and about 60 international press (for Italy L’Espresso), under the coordination of the consortium of investigative journalism “ICIJ” based in Washington, reveal that around 180 billion euro would pass in Geneva between November 2006 and March 2007, from more than 100 000 customers (of which about 7,000 Italian).
The list Falciani
Former bank employee Herve Falciani had already handed over to the French authorities with a list of about 3,000 names of tax evaders French. The new revelations concern everyone involved in the world by the system set up by the British bank. Including actors John Malkovich and Gad Elmaleh, the King of Morocco Mohammed VI today on a visit to Paris and the Jordanian Abdullah II, singers Phil Collins and Tina Turner, sportsmen Fernando Alonso and Valentino Rossi, Flavio Briatore and the designer Valentino , the actress Joan Collins and model Elle McPherson, the Spanish banker Emilio Botin (who died in September 2014) of Banco Santander. The consortium “ICIJ” also states that the presence of some names in the investigation does not automatically mean that they have committed a crime, or who have not regularized their position with their governments.
The painter
In one of the dossier, an official of HSBC talks about how a financier based in London, indicated by the code name ” Painter “(painter, ed), could evade the Italian tax authorities along with his partner. “The risk for them is, of course, that once back in Italy the British tax authorities to transfer the information to the Italian ones. My opinion on the matter is clear that the risk existed. ”
The ranking
number of customers (7,499) Italy is in fifth place in the ranking of countries that have most used the services of HSBC. In first place is Switzerland (11,235 customers), followed by France (9,187), United Kingdom (8848) and Brazil (8667). As to the amounts held in Switzerland, Italy is in seventh place with $ 7.4 billion. The single Italian customer with the greatest amount of money entrusted to HSBC Private Bank in Geneva held a billion and 200 million dollars.
The Italian
Among the most famous people, Flavio Briatore in period 2006-2007 was 38 accounts for a total of $ 73 million. Briatore’s lawyer, Philippe Oukra said all’Icij that those figures «go back more than 10 years ago with the result that Mr. Briatore is unable to confirm or deny the details of your assertions. Mr. Briatore can confirm that he and some of his companies – some of which were led by Switzerland – have held several bank accounts in Switzerland, in a perfectly legal and in compliance with all tax laws and regulations. ” The ICIJ noted that five accounts were still open in 2008, but the attorney responded that “Mr. Briatore will not make any further comment.” Another famous client is Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani, linked to at least nine accounts through the code number “3326 CR”, created in 2001, which boasted 108.4 million dollars in 2006-2007.
The defense of the bank
Interviewed by the British newspaper The Guardian, the bank HSBC has admitted that there have been cases of wrongdoing by the Swiss branch, but tried to save his image emphasizing that for many years after the purchase in 1999 the HSBC Private Bank Geneva remained essentially independent within the group and this meant “standard much lower in terms of control.” One of the most interesting aspects of the investigation it is shown that the mass distribution of the system of tax evasion: the celebrities use the same methods of wealthy professionals, arms dealers or exporters of diamond smuggling, and people suspected of financing the terrorism of Al Qaeda.
The “golden chain” of Osama
In March 2002, a few months after the September 11 attacks, the Bosnian special forces raided the “International Charitable Foundation” of Sarajevo, where they found a file titled “The history of Osama,” which contained twenty names, considered the most important financiers of Al Qaeda. That network was nicknamed “The gold chain.” Thirteen years after that discovery, the investigation revealed that those personalities SwissLeaks very influential in Saudi Arabia were to spend money at the Swiss branch of HSBC. According to the Zurich daily Tages-Anzeiger, in at least three cases, the bank continued to do business with personality publicly suspected of financing Islamic terrorism.
drug cartels
Geneva bank would have had a more or less conscious in the business relationship between a gang of traffickers ecstasy of Atlanta, in the United States, and an Israeli arms dealer. These, in turn, with the contacts between the Mexican drug cartels. Given the extraordinary amount of people involved and the severity of their trades, it must be supposed that the HSBC Private Bank has not intervened in about the business, but deliberately failed to control their legality, even when they should have put some signs on the lookout .
The activism of HSBC
Officials of the Swiss subsidiary HSBC would have contacted from 2005 people with assets in excess of a minimum of one million euro, suggesting that they hide the money through shell companies based usually in Panama or the British Virgin Islands. The purpose was to deceive the national tax administrations to avoid some taxes such as the Eu Savings Directive introduced after negotiations between Europe and Switzerland.
The accounts Syrians
cousin of Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad, Rami Makhlouf, held in 2006 several accounts at HSBC in Geneva, for a total of 27 million euro. In 2008 he was accused by the US Treasury Department to be the center of a web of corruption in Syria, in 2011 was put on the blacklist of personalities affected by sanctions by the European Union in 2013 and in that of Switzerland. His brother Eyad Makhlouf is involved in violence against the civilian population. In 2006 he had an account with $ 1.3 million and in his dossier, opened in 2000, an official HSBC had written in all uppercase letters “He is captain in the Army,” a hasty but effective way to signal that was a customer to deal with particular regard.
February 9, 2015 | 7:35
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