The Guardian is reporting that Senator Elizabeth Warren is turning up the heat and asking that the DOJ bring criminal charges against HSBC and its executives if it is found to have colluded with tax evaders.
Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren called on prosecutors to “come down hard” on HSBC if the bank is found to have colluded with tax evaders on Tuesday. Her intervention came as US government officials with knowledge of the DoJ’s investigation provided the Guardian with new details about the inquiry. US government faces pressure after biggest leak in banking history. Questions for Department of Justice and IRS after disclosure of leak revealing HSBC’s private Swiss bank helped clients to conceal undeclared ‘black’ accounts
Renewed focus has been placed on the long-running investigation into HSBC Switzerland by the department, after a huge leak of secret bank data – passed to the DOJ’s tax division almost five years ago – was obtained by the Guardian and other media.It shows that HSBC Switzerland helped some clients conceal millions of undeclared assets, and has immediately raised questions on Capitol Hill about the response from prosecutors and tax authorities.
So the DoJ was sitting on the evidence for 5 years and is now facing the heat to do something about it with Senator Warren leading the outrage.
The leaked files also reveal that the Clinton Foundation received $81m from clients of HSBC. So can we expect Hillary Clinton to come out for prosecution of HSBC?