Get India's Stolen Money Back

By Patrick Donahue and Holger Elfes - Jul 22, 2010 The German government may be about to step up its pursuit of tax evaders amid reports that a new CD containing stolen bank data has been offered for sale to state authorities. Schleswig-Holstein, the most northerly of Germany’s 16 states, is in talks with an unidentified source to buy the CD containing details of “hundreds” of people with money hidden in a bank in Liechtenstein, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported today, without saying where it got the information. The data relates to accounts worth 500 million euros ($641 million) at Liechtensteinische Landesbank, the Munich-based newspaper said. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government recouped 200 million euros in back taxes from a disk with data from Liechtenstein purchased in 2008, and has bought further CDs with details of tax evasion involving accounts in Switzerland. The latest CD is at least the seventh to be offered to German authorities and Schleswig-Holstein will probably buy ...

By William Ickes (AFP) – 4 days ago FRANKFURT — Authorities raided Credit Suisse bank branches across Germany Wednesday on suspicion they helped rich account-holders hide money from the taxman, part of a probe that has angered Switzerland. About 150 investigators swooped on 13 German branches of the second biggest Swiss bank, the prosecutor's office in Duesseldorf, western Germany said. State attorney Johannes Mocken said the searches "targeted Credit Suisse staff suspected of having assisted tax fraud by clients." In Zurich, Credit Suisse said in a statement that it was "cooperating with the relevant authorities" in Germany but added: "As it is an ongoing investigation, we cannot provide more information." Credit Suisse shares fell 1.58 percent to 44.98 Swiss francs in afternoon trading, while the Swiss Market Index on which they are listed was off by 0.41 percent overall. In February, officials in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia bou...

By DAVID GAUTHIER-VILLARS And DEBORAH BALL NICE, France—The anonymous emails carried a tantalizing subject line: "Tax evasion: client list available." The messages, sent two years ago to tax authorities across Europe, made an audacious claim: The sender could provide a large client list of a Swiss-based private bank, plus access to its computer systems. The emails were sent to Germany's secret police, the French police and the U.K.'s tax authorities and foreign ministry. The emails came from the computers of Hervé Falciani and Georgina Mikhael, two employees of HSBC Holdings PLC, people familiar with the matter say. The caper has landed the two at the center of a controversy over whether governments should use data obtained by dubious means to bring tax evaders to justice.  HSBC officials allege that Mr. Falciani copied thousands of files of wealthy clients of its Swiss private-banking arm. Swiss authorities are investigating whether Mr. Falciani, 38 years old, sto...