Update on German Authorities buying information on Germans having hidden money in Swiss Banks Accounts

Since a couple of months ago there have been a lot of fuzz in the media regarding data with information about Germans having undeclared money in Swiss Banks Accounts. The data has been stolen from a Swiss bank and the person who has stolen the information has offered the German state to buy the information.

The German authorities did already in 2008 purchase data stolen from a bank in Lichtenstein and earlier this year the German federal government authorized the state authorities to buy the information, even though it was obtained illegally. Therefore it seemed rather obvious that the states would take the opportunity to hit hard against the tax evasion and on Friday a spokesperson for North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) said it now had received the information about the bank accounts bank on a CD. How much it has paid for the information was not revealed.

The case has deeply shaken Switzerland’s large private banking industry and Germans hold an estimated 200 billion euros in undeclared funds in Swiss banks. Only in the past months almost 6 000 Germans have turned themselves in to the authorities which is expected to make it possible for the German authorities to recover about 500 million euros of lost taxes.

Other articles that might interest you:

1. Swiss Banking Secrecy
2. Swiss Start to Retaliate against USA over UBS
3. More than 14,700 Americans have disclosed their secret foreign bank accounts
4. Former UBS Client Pleads Guilty to Hiding $10 Million in Offshore Bank Accounts
5. Virginia Doctor Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy Involving Undeclared Swiss Bank Account