A private Swiss bank will pay $122.9 million in back taxes and penalties after it admitted it helped clients hide their assets from the IRS between 2008 and 2014.
According to court and Justice Department filings, Banque Pictet & Cie, Co. helped a group of American taxpayers hide $5.6 billion in income concealment, saving them $50.6 million in taxes during those years.
The payments to the government cover taxes owed by the bank’s customers, fees the bank imposed on undeclared accounts, and fines of $39 million.
“Pictet et Cie Bank admitted to actively helping U.S. taxpayers use encrypted accounts, trusts, foreign entities, nominated beneficiaries and other deceptions to hide their income and assets abroad,” Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg said. sAssistance with a Department of Justice press release.
The money was held in 1,637 Swiss bank accounts by Banque Pictet, a wealth and asset management firm that is part of the Pictet Group, a financial services company that said it had $691 billion in assets as of June 30.
The company entered into a deferred prosecution agreement requiring it to cooperate with government investigations. This could include conducting civil or criminal investigations into people whose assets the bank has hidden.
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