Zurich Bank Rahn+Bodmer in US Settlement Over IRS Fraud

Rahn+Bodmer, the oldest private bank in Zurich, pays $22 million to settle US criminal charges that it helped American taxpayers to defraud the International Revenue Service by hiding hundreds of millions of dollars in offshore accounts.

The US Department of Justice said on Thursday that the bank had entered a three-year deferred prosecution agreement after being charged with conspiring to assist clients file false tax statements and evade US taxes, coupled with admitted wrongdoing that included helping clients to defraud the government.

The bank will cooperate with the DOJ's crackdown on offshore tax evasion, acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M Goldberg said.

Rahn-Bodmer admitted to using held undeclared accounts with respect to roughly 340 US taxpayers who, between 2004 and 2012, evaded about $16.4 million in US taxes. Additionally, it allegedly opened accounts under pseudonyms or even the names of “sham” foundations in Panama and Lichtenstein, and for clients who were exiting other Swiss banks for example UBS Group AG.

The bank agreed to pay a $7.4 million fine, make $4.9 million of restitution, and forfeit $9.7 million of fees.

Rahn+Bodmer began in Zurich in 1750 and last year had 13.6 billion Swiss francs – the equivalent of $14.71 billion USD – of client assets under management.