Baer bankers accused of tax evasion role
US PROSECUTORS indicted two private bankers with Julius Baer for helping wealthy Americans evade taxes, drawing yet another Swiss bank into the crosshairs of the US Justice Department amid a widening crackdown on offshore tax evasion.
While the indictment of the two bankers, Daniela Casadei and Fabio Frazzetto, did not name their employer and referred only to “Swiss Bank #1”, Julius Baer confirmed the indictment concerned one current and one former employee.
“The bank is one of a number of Swiss financial institutions supporting the ongoing negotiations between the US and Switzerland and is cooperating with the US government investigation,” Julius Baer said in a statement.
The two bankers and a number of unnamed colleagues helped about 180 rich American clients of Julius Baer hide about $600m (£380m) in secret Swiss bank accounts that went undeclared to the US Internal Revenue Service, according to the indictment.
Casadei and Frazzetto were accused of conspiracy to defraud the US. According to court papers, Casadei worked at Julius Baer’s Zurich office from at least the early 1990s and Frazzetto worked at the Zurich office from around 2005.