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Swiss Leaks
Swiss Leaks (or SwissLeaks) is a journalistic investigation, released in February 2015, of a giant tax evasion scheme allegedly operated with the knowledge and encouragement of the British multinational bank HSBC via its Swiss subsidiary, HSBC Private Bank (Suisse). Triggered by leaked information from French computer analyst Hervé Falciani on accounts held by over 100,000 clients and 20,000 offshore companies with HSBC in Geneva, the disclosed information was then called "the biggest leak in Swiss banking history".
Investigators allege that 180.6 billion euros passed through HSBC accounts held in Geneva by over 100,000 clients and 20,000 offshore companies between November 2006 and March 2007. The data for this period comes from files removed from HSBC Private Bank by a former staffer, software engineer Hervé Falciani, who fled to Lebanon with the attempt to sell it. Later he handed it to French authorities in late 2008.
In December 2008, Falciani was detained by Swiss authorities, who questioned him concerning suspected data theft. Released "overnight" by Swiss police, he fled with his family and the data files to France. On 20 January 2009, authorities in Nice initiated the search of the home Falciani's father, where he had been living.
On January 20, 2009, the prosecutor’s office in Nice, responding to a request from Swiss authorities, ordered a search of Falciani's father's home, where he had been staying. The Nice prosecutors began examining the files Falciani and decided that they were of relevance to France's interest, and refused the Swiss extradition request.
The data, some 600 files with a total size over 100 GB, took time to analyze, but French authorities were assisted by Falciani. By early 2010, French tax authorities had begun notifying other countries' tax officials about the files.
In April 2015, Nina Ricci's heir, Arlette Ricci, was convicted of tax evasion in a Paris court on the basis of the Swiss Leaks files. Ricci was given a three-year prison sentence, two of them suspended, and had real estate in Paris and Corsica seized. She was also assessed a million-euro fine, for showing a "particularly determined willingness" to hide money (some €18m) with the help of HSBC. Some 50 other wealthy French individuals were expected to be brought to court for similar activities (several others having settled out of court, of the 72 originally up for prosecution).
Five days earlier, HSBC itself had been charged in France for complicity in concealing fiscal fraud and illegal selling via its Swiss branch.
According to the International Consortium of Investigation Journalists (ICIJ), which treated the data of the Swiss Leaks, Morocco is concerned by $1.6 billion[clarification needed] of tax evasion and stands at thirty-seventh place of the affected countries. Morocco stands at twenty-third place for the number of clients (1068). The maximal amount of tax evasion for one client was $74.1 million and the average was $1.5 million. As stated in the Moroccan law, it is strictly forbidden to have a foreign bank account. But the documents revealed that the royal family were part of the HSBC clients. Prince Moulay Rachid was touched by this scandal, the princess Lalla Meryem and the current king Mohammed VI with an amount $9.1 million hidden in the HSBC bank.
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Swiss Leaks
Swiss Leaks (or SwissLeaks) is a journalistic investigation, released in February 2015, of a giant tax evasion scheme allegedly operated with the knowledge and encouragement of the British multinational bank HSBC via its Swiss subsidiary, HSBC Private Bank (Suisse). Triggered by leaked information from French computer analyst Hervé Falciani on accounts held by over 100,000 clients and 20,000 offshore companies with HSBC in Geneva, the disclosed information was then called "the biggest leak in Swiss banking history".
Investigators allege that 180.6 billion euros passed through HSBC accounts held in Geneva by over 100,000 clients and 20,000 offshore companies between November 2006 and March 2007. The data for this period comes from files removed from HSBC Private Bank by a former staffer, software engineer Hervé Falciani, who fled to Lebanon with the attempt to sell it. Later he handed it to French authorities in late 2008.
In December 2008, Falciani was detained by Swiss authorities, who questioned him concerning suspected data theft. Released "overnight" by Swiss police, he fled with his family and the data files to France. On 20 January 2009, authorities in Nice initiated the search of the home Falciani's father, where he had been living.
On January 20, 2009, the prosecutor’s office in Nice, responding to a request from Swiss authorities, ordered a search of Falciani's father's home, where he had been staying. The Nice prosecutors began examining the files Falciani and decided that they were of relevance to France's interest, and refused the Swiss extradition request.
The data, some 600 files with a total size over 100 GB, took time to analyze, but French authorities were assisted by Falciani. By early 2010, French tax authorities had begun notifying other countries' tax officials about the files.
In April 2015, Nina Ricci's heir, Arlette Ricci, was convicted of tax evasion in a Paris court on the basis of the Swiss Leaks files. Ricci was given a three-year prison sentence, two of them suspended, and had real estate in Paris and Corsica seized. She was also assessed a million-euro fine, for showing a "particularly determined willingness" to hide money (some €18m) with the help of HSBC. Some 50 other wealthy French individuals were expected to be brought to court for similar activities (several others having settled out of court, of the 72 originally up for prosecution).
Five days earlier, HSBC itself had been charged in France for complicity in concealing fiscal fraud and illegal selling via its Swiss branch.
According to the International Consortium of Investigation Journalists (ICIJ), which treated the data of the Swiss Leaks, Morocco is concerned by $1.6 billion[clarification needed] of tax evasion and stands at thirty-seventh place of the affected countries. Morocco stands at twenty-third place for the number of clients (1068). The maximal amount of tax evasion for one client was $74.1 million and the average was $1.5 million. As stated in the Moroccan law, it is strictly forbidden to have a foreign bank account. But the documents revealed that the royal family were part of the HSBC clients. Prince Moulay Rachid was touched by this scandal, the princess Lalla Meryem and the current king Mohammed VI with an amount $9.1 million hidden in the HSBC bank.