Credit Suisse fined over drugs gang money laundering

Yahoo = AFP, June 27, 2022 

Credit Suisse, Switzerland's second-biggest bank, which has been rocked by a series of scandals, was slapped with a $2-million-fine Monday in a money laundering case linked to a Bulgarian cocaine network. 

Switzerland's Federal Criminal Court found that the bank failed to take steps to prevent money laundering by the criminal organisation, deeming it guilty of breaching its corporate responsibility. 

Credit Suisse was fined two million Swiss francs ($2.1 million). The Zurich-based bank intends to appeal. 

It was faulted for the failure up through its hierarchy and by its legal and compliance departments to monitor "banking relations" linked to the criminal gang, and to ensure their "compliance with anti-money laundering rules". 

A former employee was found guilty of aggravated money laundering over a number of transactions she had conducted or ordered to be conducted between July 2007 and December 2008, despite firm indications that the funds had criminal origins. 

Her actions allowed the criminal gang to stash more than 19 million Swiss francs out of reach of the authorities. 

She was given a 20-month prison sentence and a fine, both of which were suspended. 

In a brief statement, Credit Suisse said it noted the court's decision and that it intended to appeal. 

Two Bulgarians were also found guilty of participating in a criminal organisation and aggravated money laundering. 

The court also ordered the confiscation of a sum equivalent to more than 12 million francs concerning funds deposited with Credit Suisse by the criminal organisation. 

Furthermore the bank will have to compensate the more than 19 million francs in assets belonging to the criminal organisation, "which could not be confiscated due to the bank's internal failures", the court statement said.

Investigation claims Credit Suisse handled dirty money

Yahoo – AFP, Erwan LUCAS,  20 February 2022 

Credit Suisse has issued a vigorous denial of the allegations (AFP/FABRICE
COFFRINI) (FABRICE COFFRINI)

Credit Suisse handled billions of dollars in dirty money for decades, an international media investigation based on a massive data leak claimed on Sunday, in the latest setback for Switzerland's second-largest bank. 

The bank held more than $8 billion (seven billion euros) in accounts of criminals, dictators and human rights abusers, among others, according to the investigation by a group comprising dozens of media organisations. 

Credit Suisse rejected the "allegations and insinuations", saying in a statement that many of the issues raised were historical, some dating back more than 70 years. 

According to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a non-profit journalism group, the "Suisse Secrets" investigation began when an anonymous source shared bank data with German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung more than a year ago. 

That information, covering accounts collectively worth $100 billion at their highest point, was trawled through by 48 media outlets worldwide, including The New York Times, Le Monde and The Guardian. 

Accounts identified as problematic held over $8 billion in assets, the investigation found. 

The accounts included those held by a Yemeni spy chief implicated in torture, the sons of an Azerbaijani strongman, a Serbian drug lord and bureaucrats accused of looting Venezuela's oil wealth. 

It was the largest leak ever from a major Swiss bank, OCCRP said. 

'Tendentious interpretations' 

The leak included information on more than 18,000 bank accounts, many of which "remained open well into the 2010s", said the OCCRP. 

In its statement Sunday, the bank said: "Credit Suisse strongly rejects the allegations and insinuations about the bank's purported business practices. 

"The matters presented are predominantly historical, in some cases dating back as far as the 1940s, and the accounts of these matters based on partial, inaccurate, or selective information taken out of context, resulting in tendentious interpretations of the bank's business conduct." 

About 90 percent of the accounts reviewed were closed -- or were in the process of being closed -- before the press approached the bank, it added. And more than 60 percent of them had been closed before 2015. 

The OCCRP, in a statement on its website, said: "We believe the dozens of examples we have cited raise serious questions about Credit Suisse's effectiveness and commitment to meeting its responsibilities." 

It said the investigation had found dozens of "dubious characters" in the data, including some linked to government officials. 

Among those listed as holding accounts with Credit Suisse were the sons of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah II. 

When asked why so many of these accounts existed, current and former Credit Suisse employees described a work culture that incentivised taking on risk to maximise profits, according to OCCRP. 

"I've too often seen criminals and corrupt politicians who can afford to keep on doing business as usual, no matter what the circumstances, because they have the certainty that their ill-gotten gains will be kept safe and always within their reach," said OCCRP co-founder Paul Radu in a statement. 

A series of setbacks 

The international investigation is the latest in a series of setbacks that Credit Suisse has suffered recently. 

In March 2021, the bank was hit by the collapse of Greensill Capital in which it had committed some $10 billion dollars through four funds. The implosion of the US fund Archegos cost it more than $5 billion. 

And in Switzerland, a former Credit Suisse employee is among the defendants in a major corruption trial that has just started and involves alleged money laundering and organised crime in Bulgaria. The bank has said it will "defend itself vigorously in court". 

Experts say draconian banking secrecy laws in Switzerland effectively silence insiders or journalists who may want to expose wrongdoing within a Swiss bank, according to OCCRP. 

A Swiss media group was unable to participate in the investigation due to the risk of criminal prosecution, the organisation said.

Former ING chief should face charges over bank’s money laundering scandal: court

DutchNews, December 9, 2020 

Photo: ING.com

Former ING chief executive Ralph Hamers should face charges personally for his role in the money laundering scandal which led the financial services group to reach a €775m out of court settlement in 2018, appeal court judges in The Hague said on Wednesday. 

The case has been brought by campaign group Sobi, which says Hamers should face criminal charges. ‘The facts are serious, no settlement was reached with the management and he has never accepted public responsibility for his actions,’ campaigner Pieter Lakeman said. 

‘Managers who consciously make mistakes should not be able to buy themselves free by agreeing to very high fines while shareholders pick up the bill. It is of great importance that Hamers faces prosecution.’ 

The court said in its ruling that while it supported the public prosecution’s decision to look for a settlement, as CEO, Hammers was authorised and required to take measures to prevent criminal behaviour. ‘However, not only did he fail to do this and thereby promote this behaviour, but he also consciously accepted the risk that it would continue,’ the court said. 

ING said in a reaction it regretted the court decision. ‘We … regret the decision to order the prosecution of our former CEO, which goes against the assessment of the public prosecutors that, based on the investigation, there are no grounds for a case against ING employees or former employees,’ ING said in a statement. 

Hamers is now chief executive of Swiss bank UBS which, according to Reuters, says it is confident he will be able to remain in the job. 

The public prosecution department reached a €775m out of court settlement with ING for failing to properly monitor money transfers for potential money laundering in September 2018.

The department said between 2010 and 2016, the bank’s clients were effectively able to launder hundreds of millions of euros because ING was not doing its job properly. Banks are required by law to report suspicious transactions.

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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once),Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Spain's ex-king Juan Carlos heads for exile under corruption cloud

Yahoo – AFP, August 3, 2020

Spain's former king Juan Carlos abdicated in 2014 (AFP Photo/JAIME REINA)

Madrid (AFP) - Spain's former king Juan Carlos, who is facing investigation at home and abroad for corruption, announced Monday that he plans to go into exile.

The 82-year-old revealed he would leave the country in a letter to his son, the current King Felipe VI who accepted his decision, the royal palace said in a statement.

"Guided by the conviction to best serve the people of Spain, its institutions, and you as king, I inform you of my decision at this time to go into exile outside Spain," Juan Carlos wrote.

"It's a decision I take with deep anguish, but great peace of mind," he said.

Probes are under way in Switzerland and Spain where media regularly publish details of the murky management of funds allegedly paid to the former head of state by Saudi Arabia.

Spain's Supreme Court announced in June an investigation to determine the legal responsibility of the ex-monarch -- but because of the immunity he holds only for acts committed after his abdication.

The suspicions focus on $100 million (85 million euros) alleged to have been paid secretly into a Swiss bank account in 2008.

Juan Carlos ascended the throne in 1975 on the death of the fascist dictator Francisco Franco and ruled for 38 years before abdicating in favour of his son Felipe VI in June 2014.

He was a popular figure for decades, playing a key role in the democratic transition from the Franco dictatorship which ruled Spain from 1939-1975.

But an inquiry opened in Spain in September 2018 following the publication of records attributed to German businesswoman Corinna Larsen, allegedly a one-time mistress of Juan Carlos.

She claimed he had received a commission when a consortium of Spanish companies were awarded a high-speed railway contract to link the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

Larsen told Swiss investigators he had transferred her nearly 65 million euros in the Bahamas, "not to get rid of the money" but "out of gratitude and out of love", according to El Pais daily.

Swiss media reported last March that Juan Carlos was paid 100 million dollars into a Panamanian foundation's Swiss bank account by then Saudi king Abdullah in 2008.

The same month The Daily Telegraph in Britain reported that Felipe VI was also a beneficiary of the foundation.

The king withdrew from his father an annual royal allowance of nearly 200,000 euros and renounced his inheritance "to preserve the exemplariness of the crown".

Online outlet El Espanol reported that Swiss lawyer Dante Canonica told the Geneva public prosecutor's office he had been instructed to "create a structure" to hide the funds paid to Juan Carlos.

Roche urged to share info with Dutch corona test labs: FTM

DutchNews, March 26, 2020

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Swiss pharmaceuticals company Roche is unable to meet demand for coronavirus testing kits but is unwilling to share key information with labs to help them carry out mass testing, Dutch investigative website FollowThe Money said on Thursday. 

Most Dutch testing labs work with Roche equipment and depend on the Swiss firm for supplies. And due to special deals known as a ‘vendor lock-in’ they are not able to turn to alternative sources to stock up on essential items, FTM says. 

The Volkskrant reported earlier that most Dutch labs use Roche testing equipment and that the shortage of lysis buffer – a liquid used to break open cells – is one reason why the Netherlands is not carrying out mass testing. 

According to broadcaster NOS, Roche has 80% of the Dutch market. 

Commitment 

Roche told DutchNews.nl is a statement that it is committed to delivering as many tests as possible to areas where they can be most effective. However, to safeguard supply, the company said it strongly advised focusing testing on patients with symptoms, not with broad testing. 

‘Today, media in the Netherlands reported that Roche Netherlands is not providing enough test material to laboratories and asked Roche to publish the recipe for one reagent, called lysis buffer solution. We clearly state that this story is wrong,’ Roche said. 

‘There is no patent protection on lysis buffer itself. Roche will not guarantee safety and reliability of the quality and test results if the reagents required for the test are manufactured outside our own production network as well as those qualified production sites we are already working with. Safety and reliability of our components have been approved by regulatory authorities.’ 

Talks 

Meanwhile, health minister Hugo de Jonge has told parliament he is in talks with Roche about the recipe for making the liquid so that Dutch pharmacies can make it themselves and expand testing in the Netherlands. 

‘Talks are underway. We are doing all we can to get the formula,’ he said. 

The government has appointed Feike Sijbesma, the former chief executive of DSM, as its corona test expert. Sijbesma will focus on assessing and the availability of tests on the market and those being developed.

Spanish king distances himself from scandal-hit father

Yahoo – AFP, March 15, 2020

Juan Carlos handed over power to his son, Felipe in 2014 (AFP Photo/Juanjo Martín)

Madrid (AFP) - King Felipe VI of Spain moved Sunday to distance himself from his scandal-hit father, stripping him of his palace allowance and renouncing what he was due to inherit from him.

A statement from the palace announced that he had stripped the former king Juan Carlos, of his allowance and was himself renouncing what he was due to inherit from him.

The announcement came after media reports that Juan Carlos had received 100 million dollars (90 million euros) from Saudi Arabia via an offshore account -- and that King Felipe himself was also a beneficiary.

The money was lodged in a Swiss bank account in the name of a Panamanian foundation.

In the palace statement, the reigning king said that in April he had made it clear to a notary that he would accept no money from the foundation in question.

He also that he had absolutely no knowledge of having been named as a beneficiary to another foundation, which according to press reports paid millions of euros towards his father's flights in private jets.

On Tuesday, the Spanish parliament decided against launching an investigation into suspected money laundering by the former king Juan Carlos.

Reported Saudi payments to ex-king

Spain's hard-left Podemos party had called for it after reports earlier this month that in 2008 Juan Carlos received $100 million from Saudi king Abdallah via the Swiss account of an entity listed in Panama.

The Swiss daily Tribune de Geneve added that in 2012, $65 million of that sum was given by the king to his former mistress, Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein.

Then a report in Britain's Daily Telegraph said that 52-year-old King Felipe was also a beneficiary of the fund, which it said had been set up when Juan Carlos was still on the throne.

Juan Carlos, now 82, came to the throne after the death of the military dictator Francisco Franco in 1975 and is widely respected for having favoured a transition to democracy.

But he lost his immunity from prosecution after handing power to his son, Felipe, in June 2014 following a 39-year reign.

He resigned from public life last year after a series of scandals about his private life.

In 2012, he outraged Spaniards by going elephant hunting in Botswana at the height of the country's recession.

Spanish reports say Juan Carlos has until now received an annual allowance from the state of more than 194,000 euros.

Islamic scholar Ramadan targeted by new rape complaint

Yahoo – AFP, 25 August 2019

Tariq Ramadan is a married father of four whose grandfather founded Egypt's
Muslim Brotherhood

Tariq Ramadan, a leading Islamic scholar charged in France with raping two women, has also been accused of taking part in the gang rape of a journalist, French judicial sources said Sunday.

The sources confirmed reports on Europe 1 radio and in Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper that a woman in her 50s had accused Ramadan, 56, of raping her along with a member of his staff when she went to interview the academic at a hotel in Lyon in May 2014.

The woman, who filed a criminal complaint in May 2019, also accused Ramadan of issuing "threats or acts of intimidation" aimed at dissuading her from reporting the alleged attack to the police, the judicial sources added.

Ramadan, a married father of four whose grandfather founded Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, was a professor at Oxford University until he was forced to take leave when rape allegations surfaced at the height of the "Me Too" movement in late 2017.

He has denied charges he raped a disabled woman in 2009 and a feminist activist in 2012.

He was taken into custody in February 2018 and held for nine months before being granted bail.

Authorities in Switzerland are also investigating him after receiving a rape complaint in that country.

His lawyer, Emmanuel Marsigny, refused to comment Sunday on the latest allegations against him in France.

The woman behind the latest complaint told police that Ramadan and a male assistant repeatedly raped her in Ramadan's room at the Sofitel hotel in Lyon.

She described the alleged attack as being of "untold violence" and claimed that when she threatened to report them to the police Ramadan replied: "You don't know how powerful I am."

She also claimed that Ramadan had contacted her via the Messenger app in January, two months after his release from jail, saying that he wanted to make her an "offer" of a "professional nature", without giving details.

Tariq Ramadan is a married father of four whose grandfather founded Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.

Report alleges ethical abuses at UN agency for Palestinians

Yahoo – AFP, Joe Dyke, July 29, 2019

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said it is cooperating fully
with the investigation into allegations of mismanagement and abuses of authority
at the highest level of the agency (AFP Photo/MOHAMMED ABED)

Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - An internal ethics report has alleged mismanagement and abuses of authority at the highest levels of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees even as the organisation faced an unprecedented crisis after US funding cuts.

The allegations included in the confidential report by the agency's ethics department are now being scrutinised by UN investigators.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said it is cooperating fully with the investigation and that it cannot comment in detail because the probe is ongoing.

AFP has obtained a copy of the report which describes "credible and corroborated" allegations of serious ethical abuses, including involving UNRWA's top official, Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl.

It says the allegations include senior management engaging in "sexual misconduct, nepotism, retaliation, discrimination and other abuses of authority, for personal gain, to suppress legitimate dissent, and to otherwise achieve their personal objectives."

One senior official named in the report has left the organisation due to "inappropriate behaviour" linked to the investigation, UNRWA said, while another has resigned for what the agency called "personal reasons."

UNRWA said in response to AFP questions that it "is probably among the most scrutinised UN agencies in view of the nature of the conflict and complex and politicised environment it is working in."

"Over the past 18 months, UNRWA has faced immense financial and political pressure, but its entire staff body has steered it, serving 5.4 million Palestine refugees through the most unprecedented financial crisis in its near 70 years of history," it said.

The report was sent to the United Nations secretary general in December and UN investigators have since visited UNRWA's offices in Jerusalem and Amman, collecting information related to the allegations, sources familiar with the matter said.

Krahenbuhl said in a statement to AFP that "if the current investigation... were to present findings that require corrective measures or other management actions, we will not hesitate to take them."

'Nepotism'

UNRWA was set up in the years after more than 700,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled their lands during the 1948 war surrounding the creation of Israel.

It provides vital schooling and medical services to millions of impoverished refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and the Palestinian territories.

It employs around 30,000 people, mostly Palestinians, and its UN mandate is set to be debated later this year.

The report paints a picture of a small number of mostly foreign senior leaders centralising power and influence while disregarding UN checks and balances.

Pierre Krahenbuhl, Commissioner General for the United Nations Relief and 

Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (AFP Photo/THOMAS COEX)

Krahenbuhl himself is alleged to have been romantically involved with a colleague who was appointed in 2015 to a newly created role of senior advisor to the commissioner-general after an "extreme fast-track" process, the report says.

This enabled her to join him on business class flights across the globe, the report claims.

In 2018 the United States suspended and later cut all funding for UNRWA, causing a financial crisis that threatened to see its schools and hospitals closed.

US President Donald Trump's administration, along with Israel, accuses UNRWA of perpetuating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The agency disputes that and says the services it provides would otherwise not be available to Palestinians.

Trump's Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt said Monday that he was "extremely concerned" about allegations against UNRWA and demanded a full UN probe.

"UNRWA's model is broken/unsustainable & based on an endless expanding # of beneficiaries," he wrote on Twitter.

After the crisis began, Krahenbuhl established a fund-raising unit outside of the traditional mechanisms but it "reportedly raised only modest amounts," the report says.

At the same time, it enabled him to continue travelling with his partner, it says.

Separately, a Krahenbuhl deputy is accused of manipulating the system to find a well-paid job for her husband during the 2018 financial crisis.

Her management style is alleged to have included bullying, cutting those she disliked out of decision-making and avoiding checks and balances, it says.

The deputy left UNRWA last Thursday for what the agency said was "personal reasons".

She could not be reached for comment.

Another senior official is described in the report as bullying staff and acting like a "gangster" and a "thug".

UNRWA said the official was recently "separated from the agency as a result of inappropriate behaviour" linked to the investigation.

He could not be reached for comment.

'Warnings ignored'

A senior UNRWA staffer was fired in early July after what she said was several years of trying to raise ethical concerns.

UNRWA said she was "separated" following a different investigation unrelated to the internal report, calling it a "stand-alone case of misconduct".

She claimed she was fired for retaliation and is appealing.

Documents seen by AFP show multiple times she raised concerns over potential mismanagement, including employees allegedly being promoted beyond their qualifications and supposed nepotism.

She told AFP she met directly with Krahenbuhl, but nothing was done.

"Most of the time it felt like working for a private company not the United Nations where we are supposed to comply with strict rules and regulations", she said.

Pompeo attends secretive global meet in Switzerland

Yahoo – AFP, Francesco FONTEMAGGI, June 1, 2019

Pompeo told journalists he was staying so long in Switzerland as he is a "big
cheese and chocolate fan" (AFP Photo/Fabrice COFFRINI)

Bern (Switzerland) (AFP) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will take part Saturday in a secretive meeting in Switzerland of global power brokers discreetly discussing issues like Brexit and the future of capitalism.

The State Department confirmed Saturday that Pompeo, who is on a four-nation tour of Europe, would take part in the four-day Bilderberg meeting, which kicked off on Thursday in the picturesque Swiss town of Montreux.

His participation had not been previously mentioned in the official agenda and he did not figure on the list of some 130 elites from 23 countries participating in the event.

Already on the list is US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner, who might use the forum to try to drum up support for his yet to be unveiled Middle East peace plan.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and elder statesman Henry Kissinger also figure on the list of participants, as do Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen.

The group, which has met every year since 1954 and was created as a forum for fostering dialogue between Europe and North America, is this year discussing a range of topics such as climate change, the future of capitalism, the ethics of Artificial Intelligence, China, Russia and Brexit, the organisers said.

The Trump administration has taken strong and controversial stances on a number of the topics on the agenda, including swelling tensions with Beijing, complex relations with Moscow and a more than sceptical attitude to calls to fight climate change.

The luxury hotel where the talks are taking place has placed high bushes all around 

its perimeters to keep the press at bay (AFP Photo/Fabrice COFFRINI)

Pompeo himself recently hailed that climate change was helping open new sea routes in the usually frozen Arctic.

The luxury hotel where the talks are taking place has placed high bushes all around its perimeters to keep the press at bay.

'Cheese and chocolate fan'

The participants are meanwhile held to the so-called Chatham House Rule, meaning that participants are free to use the information received, but may not reveal the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker.

The secretive nature of the group has given birth to conspiracy theories. Some have warned, for example, that Bilderberg is a group of rich and powerful kingmakers seeking to impose a one world government.

Pompeo arrived in Switzerland on Friday on the second leg of his European tour, following a stop in Berlin and before travelling on to The Hague and London.

On Saturday morning, he and his wife Susan had a guided tour of Bern's Old Town, and on Sunday he is due to meet with his Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis.

Asked why he chose to stay for so long in Switzerland -- from Friday afternoon through Monday morning, Pompeo told a group of journalists travelling with him that he is a "big cheese and chocolate fan".

'Nearly a third' of British billionaires moved to tax havens

Yahoo – AFP, Dmitry ZAKS, March 7, 2019

It is reported that 10 British billionaires and 408 UK business owners live in
Monaco, according to The Sunday Times (AFP Photo/VALERY HACHE)

London (AFP) - Nearly a third of Britain's billionaires have either moved or are relocating to tax havens, where some have broken UK law by bankrolling political parties, a major investigation said on Thursday.

The Times newspaper published a series of reports detailing allegations of Britain's ultra-rich hiding billions of pounds from the UK Treasury in taxes over the past decade.

The report came out days after the government drew public fury for delaying a vote on proposed legislation aimed at ending secret company ownership in offshore territories.

"We must stop tax evasion so that the wealthiest pay their fair share," Margaret Hodge, a leading lawmaker from the main opposition Labour Party who co-sponsored the tax haven measure, tweeted in response to The Times reports.

"Public registers and more transparency are the next big step for fairer tax."

Prime Minister Theresa May's government did not immediately respond to the investigation.

Knights and dames

The Times said that 28 out of the 93 British billionaires it found through public records "have moved to tax havens or are in the process of relocating".

It said almost half of the 28 have left in the past decade.

The Times said those in the process of moving included Jim Ratcliffe, Britain's richest man and a major Brexit supporter. His chemicals firm is valued at £35 billion ($46 billion).

The Times said those in the process of moving included Jim Ratcliffe, Britain's
richest man and a major Brexit supporter (AFP Photo/JUSTIN TALLIS)

The Sunday Times reported last month that Ratcliffe's move to Monaco, where it said 10 British billionaires and 408 UK business owners live, could cost the Treasury up to £4 billion.

Asked about his rumoured move last October, Ratcliffe told Britain's Press Association news agency that he was staying in Britain.

The Times said big business owners were trying to avoid paying Britain's relatively high 38.1 percent income tax on dividends -- the cash payments made by corporations to their shareholders.

It is effectively a profit tax, since business owners hold a large portion of their company's shares.

Tax-evading

Companies registered in offshore tax shelters such as the Channel Islands or countries like Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates pay little to no tax.

The Times said the exodus was spurred by a hike in income tax rates for top earners to 50 percent in 2010, which was reduced to 45 percent in 2013.

New rules from 2013 making a switch in tax residency easier also contributed, The Times said.

But some of its most damning allegations concerned political contributions.

The Times said successive UK governments have failed to properly enact a 2009 law banning large donations from anyone residing abroad for tax purposes.

It said tax-evading business owners and their companies have made political contributions worth £5.5 million over the past decade.

Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives accepted £1 million from these entities in the months leading up to the 2017 snap general election, The Times said.

It added that several of these billionaires have also received honorary titles such as baron, knight and dame.

Swiss bank UBS fined 3.7 bn euros in French tax fraud case

Yahoo – AFP, 20 February 2019

A Paris court fined Swiss banking giant UBS 3.7 billion euros ($4.2 billion) in a
tax fraud case, a record for such a case in France

A Paris court on Wednesday fined Swiss banking giant UBS 3.7 billion euros ($4.2 billion) in a tax fraud case, a record for such a case in France.

The bank was convicted of illegally helping French clients to hide billions of euros from French tax authorities.

The trial opened last autumn after seven years of investigations, launched when former employees came forward with claims of unlawful conduct.

This came as authorities across Europe cracked down on tax evasion and dubious banking practices in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis.

In the UBS case, French authorities determined that more than 10 billion euros had been kept from the eyes of their tax officials between 2004 and 2012.

The fine was in keeping with that demanded by the National Financial Prosecutor's office.

UBS's French subsidiary was also fined 15 million euros for complicity.